A Very Hot Summer
by jrb2009
Summary: Hermione fell in love with Camp Craig when offered an extra credit chance. After years of attending, she applied for the coveted position of Camp Counselor and got the job the summer before Sixth Year. Which handsome Gryffindor also frequents Camp Craig and is also going to be a Camp Counselor? Cormac McLaggen. Fluffy chapters that follow them around, but also plenty of smut.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi, Everyone. It feels good to be back and writing! Here is the start of the story that I promised at the end of ATT. For those of you that were a fan of ATT, I'm hoping that this will have a similar feel. I need to warn you that I've already put a good amount of time into starting this story and it's taking me a while to get to the smut that some of my faithful followers enjoy. I just want to give a fair warning that I'm working on building up the story and characters before I have Cormac and Hermione getting their hands on each other ;). With that being said, the first few chapters are spent setting the stage (and I apologize) but please stick with it. I'm hoping to have a similar vibe as ATT.**

**Please don't call it quits after this chapter, i just want to have a reasonable plot device to get Cormac and Hermione back at this camp between Fifth and Sixth year (slightly more age appropriate).**

**Chapter 1**

With a flick of the wrist, the stack of parchment with the extra credit opportunity the Muggles Studies department had been offering for over a decade hovered to each of the students' desks. The professor had just explained the opportunity.

"There is an eight-week-long Muggle camp located in the northwestern part of England. If you choose to go- that is sign up and enroll- you will spend one week-long session, of your choosing, to better understand that Muggles aren't that different than we wizards. Should you complete a week long session and write a foot long report about the differences and similarities between your fellow campers, you will receive a significant head start to your Second Year grades on your classmates."

A few people in the room were listening with interest. Some were genuinely interested in the opportunity to assimilate with Muggles their own age, a few were more interested in understanding the differences between the two groups and others were excited for an opportunity to earn extra credit. Among the room of First Years, Hermione Granger was one of the students whose ears perked up at the mention of extra credit.

She eagerly took the parchment that floated to her desk and once the professor had dismissed them- the words of the Muggle camp being the final announcement of the day- she reread the assignment requirements before stuffing the piece of paper in her school bag.

"Mr. Malfoy, a word?" the professor said as Hermione threw her bag over her shoulder and jogged out of the classroom to catch up to Ron and Harry who couldn't escape from the final class of the day soon enough.

That school year ended atypically for most, but without Hermione's knowledge, First Year ended more similarly for her than she could've imagined. She, Ron and Harry halted the Dark Lord's inevitable rise, by thwarting him in his attempt to collect the Philosopher's Stone.

Hermione was somewhat of a heroine for the remainder of her days in the Wizarding World- at least in Hogwarts, but once she returned to her parents' home, life returned to normal. She spent the beginning of the summer by organizing her First Year academic documents; she filed her notes away, put her books in proper hiding places from wandering Muggle friends' eyes, and stored the rest of her magical school supplies. As she was filing away her school papers, she came across the extra credit assignment. She jumped up to her feet from sitting on the floor and ran downstairs to her parents.

She explained the assignment and at first Mr. and Mrs. Granger were hesitant to agree to send their daughter to a "regular" camp. They didn't see the educational value in sending her, but after Hermione pleaded for the fourth time and made her case, they agreed that she could sign up for one week.

In the conventional way, Hermione filled out the required form and mailed the letter to the correct address. A week later, she received a letter confirming her enrollment at the camp. She now had something to look forward to.

Hermione had never gone to sleepaway camp before so she was nervous for the whole train ride to where she was headed. Both of her parents were accompanying her, because the trip was not short. Hermione had two suitcases as large as her 12 year old self.

When Hermione and her parents stepped onto the platform of the rail station, there was a herd of children roughly her age all around her. Some were getting on the train, being reunited with their parents, while some were also stepping onto the platform just like Hermione, about half accompanied by parents and the other half, a little older, escorting themselves.

Not too far from where Hermione stepped off the train, there were about a dozen people between five and ten years older than Hermione. They were all wearing the same bright yellow shirt. On the front were the words "Camp Craig" with a circle of different animals surrounding the letters.

"Anyone coming to Camp Craig, the buses are going to be leaving in 10 minutes," the oldest looking person in a yellow shirt was saying.

Hermione turned back to her parents and was feeling very nervous - almost as nervous as her first day at Hogwarts.

Sensing their daughter's nervousness, Mr. and Mrs. Granger embraced their daughter, whispered some encouraging words to her and walked with her to one of the staff members in a yellow shirt.

Hermione wasn't the youngest student aged camper among the lot. It seemed like the ages ranged from eight year olds to about fifteen year olds. Hermione and her parents approached one of the staff members, and introduced themselves. The counselor was polite, charming and made Hermione feel at ease. She was a pretty girl with auburn hair.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Hermione," the counselor said to Hermione, but next she whispered, "Are you a little nervous? My first time at camp I was very nervous."

Hermione shifted a little, but nodded.

"That's ok. You and I are going to be great friends. My name is Nicky." The girl flashed Hermione a warm smile. Nicky couldn't be older than 17, but Hermione immediately knew that everything was going to be fine.

Again, the oldest looking counselor tried to shepherd the throng of children out toward the exit. This was the final call for last goodbyes to parents. Hermione gave her parents one final hug and kiss, before she grabbed her suitcases by the handles and rolled them behind her.

The rail station was small. There was a waiting area, several bathrooms, and two windows to buy tickets. But to get from the train tracks to the waiting area, the travelers needed to step down three steps.

Still following Nicky, Hermione was so focused on dragging both her bags behind her, that she didn't see what was coming next.

A blonde flash shot to Hermione's right and something toppled into the suitcase that she was dragging in her right hand. That suitcase clattered into the one in her left hand and clipped the girl to Hermione's left in the ankles. That girl fell forward down the three steps and took out the legs of the boy in front of her, which created a domino effect. Before all the stumbling and shouting ended, fifteen of the ninety campers that had gotten off the train had fallen to the floor. Hermione was among the fallen

"Hey!" the girl that was clipped by Hermione's bag shouted back at her.

Hermione turned bright red.

"Watch where you're going, Granger," the slick git, that was Draco Malfoy called down to Hermione. He was looking at her with a satisfied look.

Draco was still walking toward the exit when he bumped into a boy slightly bigger than he. Hermione thought she recognized him, but was too ashamed to think back to how she knew him. Instead, she was fumbling around trying to figure out which bag was hers in the sea of fallen teens.

The boy looked down on Draco standing straight up and intimidatingly. Draco slunk around him to the side.

"Here," the boy said reaching down to her. He assisted her to her feet and volunteered to take one of her bags for her. He didn't say another word while he helped her.

All while this was happening, Nicky and the other counselors were trying to get everyone to their feet, while leading them outside. Once everyone was back up, the party continued moving.

"Not a great first impression," Nicky whispered out of the side of her mouth to Hermione. Hermione thought she was being scolded but Nicky smiled a sly smile out of the corner of her mouth. Hermione, who was still red, was thankful she had Nicky, and the so-far unnamed boy.

Outside the station there were two big yellow buses that fit sixty people each. Behind the yellow buses there were two vans designed to transport luggage. Hermione dropped off her first suitcase in one of the vans, and the boy helped her placed the other one next to the first.

"Thanks for helping, Cormac. You're such a sweetheart." Nicky said to the boy.

"Anytime, Nicky," Cormac said back to her before he tore away to join some boys that were his age on the bus.

"Are you all ready, Hermione?" Nicky said turning and addressing the young girl.

"I think so," Hermione went right behind her new mentor and followed her onto the bus. Nicky sat down with a fellow staff member in yellow and Hermione sat adjacent to her. To Hermione's surprise the girl that she had inadvertently tripped, thanks to Draco Malfoy, was her seatmate.

"Is everybody sitting down? It's a fifteen minute drive to camp," the driver of the bus announced to the noisy group behind him.

Hermione couldn't help but introduce herself and apologize for knocking over the girl next to her. Hermione found out that her name was Naomi. She was also twelve and this was her third year at Camp Craig.

By the time the bus was driving down the last dirt road toward the camp, Hermione was feeling confident in the friends she had made, Naomi and Nicky. Hermione and Naomi were discussing their different strengths in school, Hermione was making sure she call her exceptional skills in Potions as "Chemistry" and History of Magic as "History", but the conversation was transferable just the same.

Hermione was in the middle of telling Naomi about how much work she needed to spend on her Language course at school (Ancient Runes), when she was immediately thrown forward.

"Bloody, Camp Adventure!" the bus driver swore. A teal colored pickup truck had swerved in front of the bus and was ripping down the road. Hermione watched as the truck sped and took a right at a fork in the road. The truck's dust path was all that could be seen. The bus for Camp Craig took the path to the left. A few meters down the left fork, there was a wooden sign ornately painted "Welcome to Camp Craig". The same animals that created the seal to the counselors' t-shirts were emblazoned on the sign.

After a fairly long- unpaved road, the bus came to a halt in a quiet circle that surrounded a patch of grass with a lone flagpole in the middle. The camp crest was adorned on a flag that waved in a breeze that didn't even extend the flag to its full extent.

The counselors in the front of the bus announced the arrival and were the first to disembark. All the campers from the first bus followed. Behind the first bus was the second bus as long and after the second bus, the vans with the luggage.

It took about fifteen minutes of utter chaos until everyone had retrieved their suitcases, but finally when everyone was in control of their possessions, the counselors led a procession to the "Gatehouse" of Camp Craig. As Hermione and the rest of the campers walked through the small building, she took in her first impression of the camp.

From the outside, the gatehouse, along with most of the other buildings, had a red coat of paint with white trim around the door frames and windows. Roofs were also wooden, but had a slate colored tint. Walking through the tiny lodge, Hermione noticed that the insides of the building had a beautiful skeleton of exposed oak that appeared to be expertly crafted. Inside there were simple rafters and supports that appeared to hold the building up, as well as ornate patterns that displayed a delicate elegance.

By the time Hermione had exited the staffhouse and followed the rest of the camp to the designated meeting place, the sun was high in the sky. The throng was making their way to a half-dug-in amphitheater. A semi-circle of 15 rows circled halfway around a stage. The stage could hold 30 people comfortably, but if there was a need you could squeeze 70 people up there.

Hermione left her luggage at the top of the amphitheater steps in the same pile that everyone else left theirs in and walked down the steps. Fortunately, she found Naomi sitting alone about halfway down the steps. Awkwardly, they sat next to each other, relieved that they had a friendly face, even though they didn't speak. Looking down on the stage, there was a microphone and speaker set, 18 young adults in yellow shirts that said "Staff" on the back, and two people that Hermione would consider adults were spread out.

Some of the staff members in yellow shirts were waving out to the crowd at familiar faces, others were chatting among themselves with smiles. Once the last campers sat down, a friendly-looking man, which was the only male adult Hermione could see, stepped up to the microphone.

"Gooooood afternoon, Camp Craig," the man said gaining the attention of the campers. People were finishing their conversations, and the excited buzz that was surrounding the amphitheater died down.

The man gave a confused look, "I said 'Gooooood afternoon, Camp Craig.'"

There were two responses. One set of those seated replied with the traditional drone of "Good Afternoon". While the other set - the set that had been to camp before - replied, "Gooooood afternoon, Camp Craig" put their right fist in the air and pumped it twice while making a sort of hooting sound.

The man on the mic smiled back to the crowd, "That's more like it. For those of you that don't know, that is the typical greeting here." His smile continued, "Also, for those of you that don't know, I am John Craig. This is my home. This is my life's work. And this is my pride and joy." He motioned around him to the camp, "I consider all of you my friends and welcome!"

Mr. Craig gave some general administrative information - Camp do's and don't, what is on and off limits, rules about the boys' and girls' cabins, and other typical words of welcome. Once his rehearsed speech was done he introduced the other woman who was the Assistant Camp Director as well as the camp nurse, as well as his wife. After Mrs. Craig was introduced, Mr. Craig turned the mic over to the young adults to his left.

The counselors went down the line and introduced their names, favorite camp activities, and made some sort of association with an animal. Hermione was confused about the last part, but didn't want to start being the weird girl that asked too many questions. After the last staff member in yellow introduced herself, Mr. Craig took the microphone back. He still had a large smile on his face.

"I don't know about you, but I am just too excited for this session to begin." While he was addressing the campers in front of him, all of his counselors were going behind the stage and pulling out large bins with letters drawn on them. "Without further ado," Mr. Craig was saying. As his words vibrated through the speakers several, more-experienced campers sprang to their feet and several others joined. That was the beginning of the second round of chaos. "Head to the counselor with your camp schedule and cabin assignments." He had to should this last part over the ensuing noise. "They're sorted by last name!"

Hermione and Naomi walked down the stairs without a word. Once on the same level as the stage, Naomi went left to retrieve her schedule and cabin assignment, Hermione went straight because the "G's" were right in front of her. Nicky was standing on the stage, getting last names shouted at her. While rummaging through the box in front of her, she caught Hermione's eye and smiled at her. Nicky reached down on the floor and picked up a folder and reached down to Hermione.

"I'm guessing you are the only 'Hermione,'" Nicky said with a wink.

Hermione took the folder and said thank you. Hermione opened it and she was very confused.

"Follow the rest of the crowd and I will see you at the cabin soon," Nicky shouted down to her while multitasking and retrieving more folders.

Hermione looked at her with quizzical eyes.

"You're in my cabin," Nicky replied, before she shooed Hermione with a free hand.

Hermione turned around and was grateful to see that Naomi was waiting for her.

"Ready?" Naomi asked as she spun on her heels to head up the steps. Hermione followed her.

Hermione was trying to take the steps and trying to read through the confusing packet. She wasn't aware of her surroundings. She was sharply kicked on the back of her right leg, which collapsed into her left leg causing her to crash onto her knee on the stone steps. Immediately, she felt tears swell to her eyes.

"Watch you step, Mudbl…" were the only words Draco was able to get out.

Hermione looked up to see her assailant, but as she looked up she was happy to see Draco tumble to the floor. Standing in Draco's place was the boy that helped her up earlier. He had two-handed shoved Draco to the floor. Completely unexpecting an attack, Draco didn't have the chance to protect himself.

To Hermione's horror, but also amusement, Draco went face first into a stone step. He was most unfortunate that his mouth broke his fall. Draco screamed. His bottom lip was spewing blood and Hermione could see pieces of chipped tooth on the step that he fell on.

Hermione almost cracked a smile. The boy looked back at Hermione with a wry smile. Hermione was beginning to feel a blush coming on, but was robbed of the moment when Mr. Craig stormed through the crowd and grabbed both boys by the upper arm and escorted them up the amphitheater steps. Hermione couldn't hear the whole interaction, but heard Mr. Craig mutter, "Not even the first activities and already fighting…"

Hermione was thankful for her knight in shining armour. She brushed some debris off her clothes and rubbed the pain from her knee before she continued to climb the stairs. She met Naomi, found her luggage and followed the rest of the crowd.

There were two paths that led through a series of trees. A large sign had two directions pointed. To the right the sign said "Upper Bridge" under that in bullets said "Ducks" and "Beavers". If the crowd continued straight, the sign said "Lower Bridge" and bulleted under that were, "Squirrels", "Foxes", "Hares", "Otters", "Eagles" and Hornets".

Very confused on what those meant, Hermione followed the only word that she came across in her packet, "Otter". Fortunately, Naomi was headed in the same direction. Once on the other side of Lower Bridge, which wasn't more than 10 meters long, spanning a very narrow creek, Hermione and the rest of the campers came to a large opening. Directly in front of them was a large stone circle with a hollow center. To the left, were six cabin. Four larger cabins and two small huts. On the other side of the fire pit, were another six cabins and just to the right of those were another series of six cabins. To Hermione's immediate right was the lake that the creek that Lower Bridge spanned over, opened into.

Outside each set of four larger cabins there were signs. "Squirrels &amp; Foxes" were to the left. On the other side of the opening it said "Otters &amp; Hares" and closest to the lake read "Hornets &amp; Eagles". Hermione made her way toward the Otter cabins.

Hermione was pleased to see that she was still following Naomi. The girls climbed the stairs and pulled the door open. Hermione took a deep breath and counted to ten before she stepped inside.

**A/N: Thoughts? Lost cause? Or something that could set the stage nicely for a future summer of Cormac and Hermione coming back as counselors in the future?**

**Best,**

**jrb2009**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here is the second of two "Intro" chapters. Again, I apologize for feeling the need to set the universe, but I'm hoping that it'll be best for the story in the long term.**

**Chapter 2**

Hermione walked into the cabin and it was just like the staffhouse. The outside was red with white trim, and the inside was just as simple as the gate house but it also had the intricate, exposed oak details. It was a rectangular room, three or four times the size of Hermione's bedroom back home with eight matching sets of beds, dressers, and night tables lined four on either side of the cabin.

Hermione and Naomi were the fifth and sixth girls to enter the room. A pair of girls that looked about fourteen or fifteen was occupying the farthest beds from the door, while two other girls that were also slightly older than Hermione were in the next two beds. Hermione and Naomi silently walked to the first vacant beds, threw their suitcases upon them and decided to start unpacking. Hermione was confused on how it was possible that these girls could already be unpacked, Hermione and Naomi weren't that slow getting their schedules and welcome packets. Fifteen minutes after they began their unpacking they had barely finished and the door to the cabin opened.

Nicky walked in with two girls younger than Hermione. Nicky pointed the new arrivals in the direction of remaining open beds and greeted the rest of the cabin one by one. It seemed that Nicky was familiar with the girls in the back. From the conversation that Hermione observed, the pair of girls had been coming to the camp for a few years and were present for the previous week of camp as well. The next set of girls was new to camp and Nicky was very friendly toward them. Nicky hadn't had the chance to meet Naomi yet, but greeted her and stopped to say hello to Hermione again. Last, Nicky introduced the youngest members of the cabin and instructed the older girls to treat them like little sisters.

The pair of girls was friends from the town on the other side of the lake and it was their first times being away from home. Hermione was sympathetic with the girls and was excited to play the part of big sister.

"Are we ready for lunch?" Nicky asked, "You two can unpack later tonight. Don't forget your schedules" She smiled as she addressed the youngsters.

Everyone in the cabin sprang to their feet and followed Nicky out the door. The Lady Otters followed their counselor passed the fire pit, back across Lower Bridge, and toward the amphitheater. Just on the other side of the stage was a building that Hermione could tell was half full through the large windows. Nicky led the girls inside and the smells of food wafted into Hermione's nose.

"Go ahead and get in line girls," Nicky suggested, "and sit wherever you want."

Hermione followed the oldest pair of Lady Otters and made sure that the youngest pair wasn't too far from her. The older girls picked up trays and placed all the food they could eat on plates. Hermione followed suit. The more experienced pair picked up napkins, silverware and made for a table by the windows. The rest of the cabin followed.

Small talk ensued. Everyone was talking about how old they were and where they were from. After the small talk was finished, the older girls took over the conversation and were starting to give the relevant knowledge about the camp. There seemed to be so much to know. Not long after the experienced girls were done talking about the Camp Cup, Nicky joined them. Nicky sat next to the smallest Lady Otter who was sitting next to Hermione.

"There's your bully, Hermione." Nicky said quietly over the top of the little girl she was sitting next to, but loudly enough so the rest of the table could hear.

Hermione turned around to see Draco Malfoy sitting with who she could assume was his cabin-mates with a fat, bruised and bloodied lip, as well as a chipped tooth. Hermione smiled to know that he would be stuck with that chipped tooth until he could get home and get it magically fixed.

"And there's your white knight," Nicky said looking in another direction.

Cormac was sitting at a table with Mr. and Mrs. Craig, it appeared to be his punishment. All the Lady Otters turned their heads to see where Cormac was. The two girls that were barely older than Hermione immediately put their heads together and started gossiping and giggling.

Cormac had his head in his hand and was pushing some of his food around his plate. Sensing that someone was looking in his direction, he peered up and met Hermione's stares. His lip twitched in an almost smirk. Hermione dropped her head and went back to her food.

Nicky noticed the whole interaction. "Hermione? Do you have an admirer?"

Hermione was too embarrassed to say anything.

The lunch period finished the same way that it started. Nicky and the older girls were trying to give as much advice and insight about the inner workings of camp as possible. By the time the meal was over, Hermione couldn't wait to begin enjoying her week. The camp seemed well-structured, well-attended, fun, and it seemed like a genuine experience she didn't want to miss out on.

Mr. Craig stood up, and sounded an alarm through a bullhorn, that created mock panic, "First activity of the session! Let's go have some fun!"

After her fifth night and sixth day at Camp Craig, Hermione was not excited to get back on the buses heading to the train station. She was excited to be going home to see her parents, but she didn't want to leave her new friends and all the fun behind.

Over her week at camp, Hermione had half a sleeve of new friendship bracelets from Naomi, Abby and Nicole (the older more experienced campers), and Sarah and Lisa (the younger pair that Hermione tried to treat like little sisters). Aside from her new jewelry, Hermione had created her own cookbook with her favorite learned recipes from the cooking sessions, certificates for competing in swimming contests and tennis competitions, as well as a small journal filled with the information she learned in her time at the camp's academic building. Hermione had created too many memories to think of in one sitting and she couldn't be happier.

Once at the train station, both Doctors Granger were there to greet their daughter. Hermione introduced her friends to her parents and exchanged information to keep in contact. She promised to see them all next summer, boarded the train with her parents and headed back home.

As soon as she crossed the barrier into her house, Hermione quickly completed her extra credit essay explaining how Muggle kids are no different than wizard kids. Hermione pulled in similarities and difference in academic knowledge, understanding of fun, athletic skill, even the food they enjoy, but all-in-all there were no noticeable differences from the outside. Once her draft was completed Hermione tucked it away for safe keeping until the start of next Hogwarts' term.

On the first day of the new term, the Muggle Studies professor requested that any and all summer extra credit assignments be handed in. For Hermione's class which was shared between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, four students brought up essays. Hermione hadn't noticed two of them once in her week at the camp; they must've been lost in the sea of almost two hundred faces or present at another session. The only other face that she recognized was Draco's.

"I hope you took this assignment seriously, Mr. Malfoy," the professor said looking over Draco's draft.

Hermione could only assume that Draco was forced into signing up for the assignment, because why else would he show up.

A week later Hermione received the Outstanding on her extra credit assignment as anyone would've assumed and everything was normal in the world. The same day that she received the grade for her assignment was the first time she ever saw Cormac McLaggen in the Hogwarts castle. He looked so different in his school robes and she almost didn't recognize him.

She was walking with Ron and Harry down a highly occupied corridor. Both her boys were to her right and they were discussing their mutual hatred for the new Mandrake supply Professor Sprout had brought to the castle. Hermione's attention had her turn her neck to the left and there he was. He was sitting nonchalantly in an open window ledge with a pair of boys his own age and a pretty Hufflepuff girl.

Hermione forgot what she was talking about with Ron and Harry and had her eyes triggered on Cormac. For the remainder of that year, Hermione only saw him a handful of times, even though he was a Gryffindor. They didn't share classes, meals, interests, or clubs – and, of course, she was petrified for several months due to the monster slithering around the castle. .

After her blast from the Camp Craig past, Hermione retreated to her dorm and jotted down some short letters to keep in touch with her camp friends. She took her letters to the Owlery and using some school owls, she sent them on their way. Even though her friends were non-magical, the post-wizards would know to pick up the letters and deliver them in the "conventional" method.

For the remainder of the term that Hermione wasn't in the hospital wing recovering from her petrification, she did her best to remain pen pals with her friends outside of Hogwarts. Every month she would receive a letter from her friends and she would respond back.

After the Heir of Slytherin was thwarted in the Chamber of Secrets and the victims of the Basilisk were unpetrified, classes resumed for a few more weeks until the year ended. Of course, Professor Dumbledore has cancelled the exams as a treat for the monster in the bowels of the school being vanquished, but the last few classes still were held.

It was difficult for teachers to find a purpose behind teaching if there were no exams, but the students found it even more difficult to focus if they weren't going to be tested on the material.

Again, on the last day of the term, the Muggle Studies professor handed out the same extra credit opportunity as the year before. Without a hesitation, Hermione reached up and made sure to make it a point to head back to Camp Craig. So that summer she did.

Hermione we jubilant to be back with her Camp Craig friends even if it was only for one week of the summer. After her week at camp, she wrote her essay and handed it in at the beginning of her Third Year. After Third Year, Muggle Studies was no longer a required course and fell from Hermione's curriculum, but the summer between her Third and Fourth Years she went again. She had convinced her parents to let her go and be with her Camp Craig friends.

This was Hermione's pattern until the summer after her Fifth Year. At this point Hermione was old enough to hold the beloved position of a camp counselor – something she was looking forward to for years. She loved playing the role of big sister to younger campers, loved the exhilaration of arriving at Camp Craig for the first day; and now she had an opportunity to get paid for those similar experiences.

The summer prior, Mr. Craig himself came to Hermione and handed her an application for a counselor position before Hermione headed home.

"Hermione, you are always welcome to come back here anytime," he paused, "and I hope next year you put your name in the hat for a counselor position. You're a smart, fun-loving girl that I would love to have on the staff." He gently patted her on the back as she headed to the buses that led to the train station.

Sporadically throughout the year, the offer Mr. Craig had presented Hermione would come to the foreground, but she had a hard time finding the time to apply. She did a good job keeping in contact with her Camp Craig friends and some of them were thinking about applying as counselors, while Nicole thought that the "Camp Craig Experience" had dried up for her.

In order to sway her opinion to either apply or not apply, she tried to create a pro's and con's list. The only real con's were the fact that Hermione may be getting too old for camp, but if she was working and making money it could be worth it, and the other con was that it was a large time commitment. 8 weeks of the summer is a good chunk of a summer holiday.

Hermione tried to think of the pro's. Everything about the responsibility of being a camp counselor appealed to her: being in charge of a cabin, leading activities, being a role model and the list went on, but again the time commitment was a serious hindrance.

Hermione wrote out a list and on the left side were the con's and the right side were the pro's. She came to the bottom of the sheet and came up with one last item to add, "the people I'll be spending the summer with". But she didn't know which side to label that as – a pro or con.

She tried to think about who the counselors she would be working with would be. She knew that Abby and Naomi were thinking about applying, so there were two friends. Mr. Craig was always a pleasure to be around. Nicky was a head counselor last summer, but she was 22 now and was preparing for a real job and had confided in her Lady Otters that she didn't think that she would be coming back, so that was a con. But after that, Hermione really didn't know what to think about the people she could potentially be working with.

On the table she was working on, was her pro's and con's listed out, as well as the application. She could be swayed either way. She would be sure she could have a great time as a counselor, but she could also have a wonderful summer with an extra eight weeks of free time. The great unknown was the group of people that she would be working with. She was mentally kicking herself for not spending more time with other counselors other than Nicky. She was comfortable with her small clique of friends and their all-time favorite counselor.

Hermione's decision was in front of her. Was she going to play it safe with what she was familiar with? Or was she going to take a risk and try something completely new? New responsibility? New friends? Away from home for eight weeks, working?

Hermione mentally thought, _Aw what the hell? I still need to be accepted first._

She reached down and filed out the three page form asking about different Camp Experiences, favorite camp activities, strengths and weaknesses, preferred cabin to lead, as well as second and third options.

The application took Hermione forty-five minutes. She folded the piece of paper, placed it in an envelope, carried it to the Owlery, before she got cold feet and sent the letter on its way to be looked over by Mr. and Mrs. Craig.

As she watched the bird fly away with her application, which may or may not be accepted, she decided that if she was selected to be a counselor she would do everything in her power to expose herself to as many new experiences as possible.

**A/N: Again, thanks for putting up with the boringness of Hermione from ages 12-16. Next chapter should see Hermione on her way to Camp Craig as a counselor.**

**Best,**

**jrb2009**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for being patient while the story builds up. Here is the first interactions of our characters a little older (the age this story will follow). This will be the hours leading up to the beginning of counselor orientation.**

**Chapter 3**

This was the first time that Hermione was on the train to Camp Craig by herself. In years past, Mr. and Mrs. Granger would accompany Hermione on her long trip, not because she needed her parents' protection, but because they would have the weekend off of work to go with her and give her a proper goodbye.

This time, the sixteen year old was travelling on a Thursday late morning. Mr. and Mrs. Granger couldn't get time away from the dentists' office to accompany their daughter, but Hermione had told them that she would be fine. There were few people on the train, and she was almost halfway through her journey. She wasn't miserable for company though, because as they came to the next train station, a dark skinned girl with just as many overstuffed bags got on the same train car as Hermione.

Naomi didn't have a difficult time spotting Hermione, because she was the only person in the car. They both stood up and excitedly hugged each other. Between Hermione and Naomi, the amount of bags they had made it look like they were refugees bringing all of their belongings for a new life. They sat on different sides of the train, but pushed all their belongings on the window seat so they could talk across the aisle.

Naomi first commended Hermione for her cleverness to make sure that they synced up taking the same train to the station and to make sure that they were sitting in the second to last train car to make sure that they sat with each other on their way to the northwestern part of the country.

For the next two hours, they held continuous conversations about the upcoming weeks. They were nervous about the length of time, eager to see their schedules, wary to see the differences between being a counselor and a camper, excited to hold the title of counselor, and curious to see who returning counselors as well as new counselors would be.

"I know that Abby applied, but she told me she didn't get the job. So she is going to be pouring sprinkles at an ice cream place for the summer," Naomi said making a face that was sympathetic, but also said _better her than me_.

"Oh no, and what about Nicole?" Hermione asked.

"I think she said that she is going to be helping with her dad's lumber company." Naomi explained.

Hermione shot her a quizzical look.

Naomi understood the look and laughed, "No, not like splitting wood, but behind a desk."

That sounded much more like Nicole, Hermione reasoned.

"It sucks that Nicky isn't going to be back this summer. She was the best," Naomi said thinking back to her favorite counselor of the past.

"I know, but now that gives us a chance to be someone's favorite counselor," Hermione reasoned.

"And I hope you don't only mean campers," Naomi said giving her a knowing look.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione said back playfully, "You already have Wayne."

Wayne Jones had been going to camp for the past three years and was from the town over from Naomi. They were one of the greater camp love story successes. The pair of them had been dating since the summer when they were fourteen.

"I wasn't talking about me," Naomi said back, "you deserve a little fun. And a camp boy toy is the perfect place to start. Coming from experience, trust me."

Hermione just shook her head back at Naomi until she changed the subject back to hopeful schedules.

Thirty minutes later the conductor announced the next arrival as the girls' destination and they did their best to gather all their belongings. Hermione had two suitcases that she was able to drag behind her, two hand bags that draped over the handles of her rolling bags and two duffle bags thrown across a shoulder. Naomi had a similar system for transporting her things.

Once the train came to a halt and the doors opened, the girls stepped onto the platform and walked into the station. It was 1:00 PM which was one of the times the counselors could've arrived at. The other options were 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The times were scheduled so that a shuttle could pick up the arrivals and bring them to Camp Craig.

Hermione and Naomi thought that there would be more people waiting in the station, but after the rest of the arrivals from their train proceeded through the station and out the doors, they were the only ones left aside from one very handsome boy that was standing by the entrance. He was leaning casually against the stone frame of the door. His athletic body eased back into the cool stone. He had one foot firmly planted on the ground and the other was bent up resting against the wall. The boy was fiddling with his watch and hadn't looked up to notice the girls.

The pair found a bench to drop their things on. With a loud sigh and thud, Naomi dropped her hand bags on the bench and sat down. Hermione went to join her and when she released her rolling bags, the handbags that were resting on the grips unbalanced her bags and when they fell, a loud snap on the stone floor echoed through the waiting area.

Fortunately, Hermione was not embarrassed because there were not enough people in the space they were standing in, but she still tried to hurry to pick them up. Once the first bag was balanced on its own, she tried to pick up the second bag, but the handsome boy was already on a knee assisting her pick it up.

Hermione looked up into the face that she had never seen before. The way the afternoon sun came in from the windows behind him had his features highlighted like an angel's. He had short dark hair. It was clean cut and perfectly messy. The structure of his facial features would be described as sharp and attractive. His smile down on Hermione made her feel warm, like she would never need the sun again.

"Here you go," the handsome boy said placing the suitcase back on its wheels.

"Thank you," Hermione said shyly trying to match the boy's smile. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and turned away timidly.

"Are you guys Naomi and Hermione?" he didn't pronounce Hermione's name correctly.

"It's Hermione," she stated, "but yes."

"I'm Ryan Craig," he stuck his hand out.

"Like John Craig?" Hermione questioned, finally standing up on both her feet.

"He's my uncle," Ryan told them, "Do you need a hand?" he asked referring to the bags.

"I think we are waiting for a few more people," Naomi said, making sure that she was not forgotten to this new handsome boy.

"No you guys are the only people that needed to be picked up at one o'clock," he said picking up all four of the girls' duffle bags and taking two by the straps in each hand, he threw the two in his right hand over his shoulder and started walking outside. Hermione and Naomi followed.

In the small parking lot, there were only a few cars and Hermione only recognized one. The teal colored pickup truck that cut off the Camp Craig bus Hermione's first year was in the first available spot. Ryan walked over and tossed the four duffle bags in the back.

"Did you have anything breakable in there?" Naomi whispered to Hermione.

Hermione smiled and shook her head side to side.

"Leave those right there, and I can put them in the back too," Ryan said referring to the other bags, "Feel free to climb in. It's open."

Hermione and Naomi circled to the passenger's side of the truck and a decal on the side had a different emblem than anything Hermione had seen before. "Camp Adventure" was on a seal that looked crisp and clean with a large yellow star being the prominent camp symbol. Hermione opened the door and slid to the middle of the cab. There was one bench-like seat with three spots for seatbelts. Hermione took the seat belt assigned to her and slung it over her shoulder. Naomi did the same. After Ryan put everything in the truck bed he swung around to the driver's side door and in one motion, opened the door, snuck in and closed the door behind himself.

"Next stop, Camp Craig," Ryan said starting the engine. The car rumbled to life.

The bus ride normally took fifteen minutes, but Ryan made the drive in eight. At no point was Hermione worried for her well-being, but she was sliding from side to side in her seat.

The whole ride Ryan drove with one hand. He had his window rolled down and left one elbow out that side. He rested his head in his hand and Hermione caught him looking in her direction more than once on the drive.

"I didn't think that you guys were going to be the counselors I was waiting for," Ryan said out of the blue, "You guys look too young."

"We're sixteen," Naomi said from the other side of Hermione.

"That's young," Ryan said teasing the girls, "You make me feel so old."

"Well how old are you?" Hermione questioned him meeting his gaze.

"Eighteen, almost nineteen," he told them.

"Are you in school?" Naomi asked.

Ryan started on a quick conversation about the university he would be attending in the fall.

"So that's why I need to spend the summer working at camp. To make a little bit of spending money for Uni," he finished as he pulled into the "traffic circle" outside the Camp Craig gatehouse.

He opened his door and slid out. Naomi and Hermione went out the other door.

"So how many years have you been working camp?" Hermione asked him as he retrieved their things from the truck bed.

"Three years," he said easily picking things up and putting them on the ground.

"How come we've never seen you before?" Hermione follow up her first question.

There was an awkward pause from Ryan. He half-laughed and answered, "I work at my dad's camp." He pointed slightly northeast, "Camp Adventure."

Camp Adventure was a "rival" camp on the other side of the lake as Camp Craig. There were many silly rivalries and traditions surrounding the two camps. The rivalries go all the way back to the two brothers. John Craig and Don Craig (Ryan's father) fell in love with the same woman – Camp Craig's Mrs. Craig. When Mrs. Craig chose John Craig, they spent their life's work building Camp Craig by themselves with the little money they had, most of it was built with Mr. Craig's own two hands.

Early in Don Craig's life he fell into a good chunk of money and with his money developed Camp Adventure. The two camps had very different styles and feels. The original purpose of Camp Adventure was to try to win back Mrs. Craig, but eventually Don Craig met a nice woman, married her and had a family. They couldn't be happier. The camp rivalries existed, but no one can remember the original reasons why neither camp got along.

Just as Ryan handed over the bags to Hermione and Naomi, John Craig came walking out.

"Ryan, my favorite nephew!" Mr. Craig greeted him with a hug.

"Good to see you, Uncle John," Ryan said hugging the man back.

"Here is your £20," he said holding the note out to him.

"It was no problem," Ryan said, but still took the money anyways.

"I could've rented a shuttle to pick up two people, or have you pick them up and keep the £20 in the family," Mr. Craig said with a smile.

"Thanks, Uncle John," Ryan said.

Playfully, Mr. Craig led his nephew back toward his truck, "Alright get out of here before you pick up any of my camp secrets," he whispered the second part, "Or any of my counselors."

Ryan smiled, said bye to his uncle and then Naomi. Lastly, he looked Hermione up and down, "I'll see you around," were the only words he said to her.

"Girls, welcome," Mr. Craig said leading the girls toward the gatehouse.

Hermione and Naomi both had large grins on their faces. At this point, they had walked through the gatehouse plenty of times, but being able to walk through as a "counselor" gave it a very different feel.

"I know that both of you wanted to be the counselor for the Lady Otters, and you both are perfectly qualified, so I flipped a coin and, Hermione, you were the lucky winner. Naomi, I'm sorry." Mr. Craig said. In his experience, some people could get very testy and protective over the cabins that they were in charge of.

"That's fine," Naomi said truthfully, "Who am I in charge of?"

"Well I decided on putting you in charge of the Lady Foxes, or Vixen. It really depends on what you want to call yourselves," Mr. Craig said putting his faith in his counselor already.

Naomi started to debate between which name was better in her head. Once on the other side of the gatehouse, the group of three was met by Wayne Jones. Wayne was a tall, handsome boy that reminded Hermione a lot of her classmate Dean Thomas.

"Hey," he said looking down at Naomi. They didn't kiss, but Hermione could tell that they wanted to.

"Hi, Wayne. Do you want to help the girls move their bags to their cabins?" Mr. Craig asked.

"Of course," he said taking bags from Naomi, leaving Hermione just as burdened as before.

"Ok, I will see you guys in the Academic Building at 3 to start our orientation. Don't be late," he said waving and trotting toward the gatehouse again.

Hermione walked next to Wayne and Naomi as a third wheel. They passed the camp store, headed to Lower Bridge, and once on the other side of the bridge, they separated. The Lady Foxes' cabin was to the immediate left and Hermione's cabin was on the other side of the fire pit. Wayne assisted Naomi toward her cabin.

Hermione didn't want to complain while she was with Naomi and Wayne, but she was losing feeling in her hands from carrying all her stuff. At the first oak bench that surrounded the fire pit, Hermione sat down and released her bags from her grip. Everything crashed down, but her forearms burned too much to care. She let out a frustrated groan. She wasn't frustrated at Wayne, because his reaction to help his girlfriend was understandable, but she just needed to let some steam out.

Hermione couldn't see because she was blinded at rage from how heavy her bags were, but currently at the Lady Otters' cabin was a brown-haired boy. He had his jeans rolled up above his ankles, and was wearing a pair of shoes that were white when they left the store, but were now flecked with red paint. The boy was touching up most of the cabins on this side of camp. He heard Hermione's groan and looked in her direction. The corner of the boy's lips twitched.

He silently hurried to approach Hermione who was sitting down massaging her forearms.

"You look like you could use a hand," Hermione looked up to see who was talking to her, "Or maybe two hands." The boy joked noticing all of her stuff.

Hermione smiled. So many boys coming to her aid today, "That'd be great." She shyly looked away from the charming young man.

Hermione went to take both her rolling bags, but the boy stopped her, "You just take that one." He said pointing at the smaller of the two.

He picked up the two duffle bags in his hand and just like Ryan threw it over his shoulder. With his other hand he took both Hermione's handbags and the other rolling bag.

"Where are we headed?" he asked her.

"Right there," she said pointing to the correct cabin.

"I'm assuming you want this in the counselor's cabin?" he questioned her.

"Oh yeah," Hermione responded. She had forgotten that the cabin she wanted to go to was even farther than the campers' cabin. But the counselor cabin was just on the other side of the campers' cabin. Silently, the two walked the distance, and the boy assisted Hermione up the few steps onto the cabin's porch, and Hermione worked the door open so the boy could place her stuff in Hermione's new home for eight weeks.

Relieved and happy to finally be done carrying her bags half a kilometer, she plopped on the bed.

"Is that everything you need? You don't have another five or six bags hiding anywhere?" the boy asked.

Hermione had forgotten he had helped. She was just so relieved that she wasn't carrying anything anymore.

"Oh gosh, thank you so much…" she paused because she didn't know what to call him.

The boy picked up on her hesitation, "Cormac." He said, "Cormac McLaggen."

"Oh shit," Hermione meant to keep that in her head. _My how you've grown_, she was able to keep in her head.

He laughed.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said reaching out to take his hand that was extended.

"Of course," he replied, "I know who you are. Both here and at school."

Hermione didn't know how to respond to his comment.

"Well, I'll see you around," he said taking that as an opportunity to leave. He backed toward the door, reaching behind him until he found what he was looking for. He turned the door knob and exited.

Cormac McLaggen. Her "White Knight" as Nicky used to say. Her "Admirer". That was a name she hadn't thought about in years.

**A/N: I've been having a lot of fun with this story so far. I find myself in grooves where I just sit down and write. In terms of unedited chapters, I just finished Chapter 11, and I'm pretty happy with the direction it has been going. Let me know what you think.**

**Best,**

**jrb2009**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry that this one took a little longer to edit and upload. I've been enjoying a little vacation :) Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

Hermione began unpacking everything she had brought. Most of it was clothes, but there were some other basics like shampoo, conditioner and other knickknacks from home. She hung up her towels, moved her toiletries to the bathroom, but almost everything else was provided for her. She had a bed frame with a mattress in it, a night stand on either side of her double-sized bed, and a lamp on one of the night stands. In a corner, she had a full-sized cabinet with three drawers on the bottom. She was able to fold and put away some of her clothes in the drawers, and hang other things and close the cabinet.

Hermione had a small radio clock that she put on the empty night stand and set it. When she looked down at her watch it was close to 2:45. Right before she swore, letting the time get away from her, the door opened and Naomi and Wayne entered.

"Are you ready for orientation?" Wayne said holding the door open for Naomi.

Naomi swan dived into Hermione's bed with a sigh, "I don't want to start. I just want to relax for a minute before we get turned on for camp mode."

"I know what you mean," Hermione said taking out a fitted cover for her bed and other supplies like pillow cases and another sheet. She didn't want to disturb her friend, so she just laid them on the bed, "but we should get going."

Fortunately, Hermione's cabin was the closest of all the cabins at camp to the academic building. The academic building had the same look as the rest of the camp. It was painted in red and had the same white trim. It was the size of a small schoolhouse and there wasn't much to it. There was a small entrance hall, two classrooms that could fit 20 people, and a small bathroom. Some noise was coming out of the classroom to the left, so the three of them entered.

In the classroom, there were workstations that were long enough for two people to share and two chairs were on one side of the workstations facing the front of the classroom. Wayne allowed the girls to share a workspace and he sat in the next row with another boy a little older than them.

There were only 8 seats taken with one minute before 3:00 PM. Mr. Craig was standing in the front of the room with his wife. They were organizing a few stacks of white binders.

At promptly 3:00PM, the door opened and 10 more bodies walked in. Hermione almost fell out of her seat when Nicky could be seen through the incoming crowd.

"Oh my God, Nicky!" Hermione and Naomi almost shouted. Nicky smiled back.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked. She couldn't keep herself from running over and hugging her favorite counselor.

"I thought I would give the head counselor role one more try," she said with a smile, "I'll tell you more later," she said pointing to the front of the classroom and the waiting Craigs.

Hermione caught a glimpse of Cormac in the sea of people and he was finishing an inappropriate joke with the whole group before he sat down next to a strikingly beautiful blonde girl. He and the blonde sat down at the farthest table in the back.

"Thanks for joining us everyone. With less than a minute to spare," Mr. Craig said good-naturedly, "Everyone, please take your binder and pass them back. And I apologize for the next few hours. I know that it is a pain, but the rules are the rules and I need to be able to tell the county that I've gone over everything in these books with you."

Hermione opened up the binder after she took hers from the top, and it was fairly thick with very, very dry material.

"Before we get started, we should go around and introduce ourselves. Let's say our name, how long we have been going to Camp Craig, age, and what our favorite activities are." Mr. Craig suggested, "Why don't we get started with you, Eric?"

Eric was sitting in the first seat in the first row. He stood up and faced the group, "I'm Eric Forester. This is my fifth year at camp – second as a counselor. I'm nineteen. And I can do anything that involves water."

The first few counselors had similar profiles, but different favorite activities.

When it was Naomi's turn, she stood up and said, "Hi, everyone. My name is Naomi Clyne. I've been coming to Camp Craig for seven years. This is my first year as a counselor, and I'm very excited. I'm sixteen years old. And my favorite activities are anything artsy and craftsy, and cooking."

Hermione stood next and moved to a spot where she could turn and face everyone, "Hi, I'm Hermione Granger. I've been coming to camp since I was twelve," she scanned the room and saw Cormac looking her way. He flashed her a smile, and she immediately became flustered, "Um, this is also my first year being a counselor, and I'm sixteen years old." She sat down.

After a slight pause, Mr. Craig spoke, "And what's your favorite activity, Hermione?" It was a simple mistake anyone could make, but that made Hermione feel more awkward.

"Oh shit," she said softly, even though everyone heard, "Sorry." She apologized. Everyone laughed with her, but it sounded like it was directed at her, "I like tennis. I also like arts and crafts," she motioned toward Naomi, "but my favorite place is right here." She gestured to the room they were sitting in.

Wayne stood up and claimed that it was his third year at camp, first as a counselor. He announced he was seventeen, and disclosed that he liked anything with his hands.

Hermione sat down red faced. How could she a) forget to tell her favorite activities and b) already swear in front of everyone? She tried to feel less guilty by paying attention, but she only felt more guilty when she realized that all the people in the room seemed to have been going to camp for years and Hermione never took the time to know any of them. The only highlight after half a dozen more people was that Hermione learned that Nicky was going to be head counselor again. That made her feel less guilty.

Finally, the introductions were at the last table. Cormac stood up coolly. He leaned over the workstation and put most of his weight through his palms, "The name's Cormac McLaggen – for those of you that don't know me. But I think I've shared at least one session with everyone here as a camper or a counselor." He had a sly smirk.

"I think we all know you, Cormac," Mr. Craig said from the front of the room, "Always flirting with the line from Camp Golden Boy to Perineal Troublemaker."

"Whatever you want to call me, Fearless Leader," Cormac said laying a slight bow to the camp director.

"Um, I've been going here for – what – five, six, seven years? I don't even remember. I'll be in charge for the second time. I'm seventeen years young. And my favorite camp activities are anything where I'm running around and scoring. On and off the field. If you know what I mean." He joked.

_What a crude jackass_, Hermione thought to herself.

"Ok, that's enough," Mr. Craig said laughing.

"But seriously, any of the sports. You'll have a hard time finding me in the Arts and Crafts room or in here." He looked in Hermione's direction before he decided that he was finished and he sat down.

Lastly, the beautiful blonde girl stood up, "Hey. My name is Brianna, but you can call me Bri." She paused to think of the next question.

"And what's your last name, Bri?" Mr. Craig asked.

Bri smiled, "My last name is Craig."

Everyone had a mild look of shock come over their face. This seemed to come as news to everyone except Cormac. Hermione was still looking in the back corner and his facial expression didn't change.

Mr. Craig began to explain, "Everyone remembers Tori," heads nodded around the room. Hermione didn't really remember this Tori girl, but she nodded anyways, "she got an internship with BBC last minute and we had an opening. Bri normally works with her parents at Camp Adventure, but as a favor to her favorite uncle, she is going to spend the summer with us, because of the last minute staffing change."

Once everyone turned back in their seats to listen to the blonde, she continued to explain that she was eighteen and had been a counselor at Camp Adventure for two years before and was good at a little bit of everything.

"Perfect, thank you, Sweetie," Mr. Craig said. Next, he addressed the crowd, "Alright let's turn to page one in the binders." Everyone obeyed. It was a page with the camp name and the seal on it - that's it, "One down. Turn to page two…" and the orientation session started.

The session lasted three hours. There were all the camp rules and safety regulations, a few short bathroom breaks, and Cormac's untimely, yet funny interruptions. At the end of the three hours, the group had learned what to do in the event of lightning, if there is a head or neck injury, the boundaries for the camp, the difference between a "camp appropriate hug" and not camp appropriate hug, the different responsibilities they had outside of dealing with the campers, and filled out the required statutory forms for liabilities as well as income and tax purposes.

Through some of the duller moments of the orientation, Hermione found her eyes wandering. More times than not, she found her eyes wandering to the back corner where Cormac was. Each time she looked back there, one of two things were happening. Both reasons caused her ears to turn red. A few of the times that she looked back, she would catch Cormac gazing into Bri's direction. He was giving her these looks with his eyes that were difficult to understand. Hermione wasn't quite certain what his intentions were, because no one had ever looked at her in that way. He raised his eyebrows briefly and the left corner of his lips twitched in a flash of a smile. Bri's response was a more lingering smile of her own and a return stare.

The other times that Hermione would look back to catch a glimpse of Cormac, she found that he was looking her way. Hermione couldn't be certain, but she had the feeling that they had both chanced a glance at the same time. Hermione would turn away the moment that she was sure he was looking at her. Whenever their gazes met, Hermione's brain was able to process his look and it was etched in her mind.

His look seemed surprised and pleased. His whole face lit up with the slightest smile so that it wouldn't distract from the orientation. Only Hermione caught the look and the look was only meant for Hermione. Hermione could tell that the look was genuine because he didn't only twitch at the corner of his lip, but through his eyes. She was able to decipher all of this information off of his face in a fraction of a second. And after spending sixteen years without this kind of interaction, as she faced the front of the room again, she felt her ears and the rest of her face turn red.

Without fail, Hermione would turn her attention back down to the page of the orientation they were on. Involuntarily, she would exhale, pleased with herself, and brushed her hair behind her ear. The interactions didn't get passed Naomi, but she didn't say anything to embarrass her best friend at camp. Not yet.

"Ok so that should about finish up all of the boring paperwork for today. Are there any questions?" Mr. Craig said addressing the very drowsy room. His question was answered with silence, "Ok I will take that as a 'No'. So we can go get dinner – Mrs. Craig cooked for us in the Dining Hall, the catering staff won't be here until tomorrow night. And everyone knows what to expect tomorrow?" again he didn't receive a response from his staff, "We are going to inventory our camp supplies and take everything out of the storage barn." None of his counselors said anything still. "Alright, let's get out of here."

Everyone pushed their chairs back and filed toward the exit of the academic building. Hermione was only looking for the company of Naomi and Wayne, but because where they were in the group exiting the building, she found herself among the middle of the crowd.

"I thought that was never going to fucking end," Cormac was saying from the front of the amorphously shaped group.

"That's only your second one, Cormac, I've been doing that for six years," Nicky said from a few body lengths away from him.

"I have no idea how you do it," Cormac said turning back to try to look at Nicky as he addressed her. He caught Nicky's eyes, but as he turned back, Hermione caught his attention. He smiled as he turned back to face forward, but he slowed his walk while the rest of the crowd continued to the cafeteria. He picked up his pace when he had fallen back to Hermione, Naomi and Wayne.

"How's it going, Wayne," Cormac said, extending a "bro" handshake. Wayne was confused but didn't dismiss Cormac's extension of greeting. Wayne and Cormac weren't "friends" and may have overlapped at camp once or twice, but like Mr. Craig said, almost everyone knew the Camp Golden Boy/Perennial Troublemaker. "Hi Naomi," Cormac said offering her a small wave. Naomi was certain that she and Cormac had never exchanged words prior to that moment. They would never be found in the same activities, but Naomi said hi back with a confused look.

"And, Ms. Granger," Cormac said addressing her. He had his hands in his pockets and was standing shoulder to shoulder with Hermione. "Lover of tennis, arts and crafts, and the academic building."

Hermione didn't know how to respond to his comment, so she didn't.

"Are you guys excited for the first wave of campers getting here Sunday afternoon?" Cormac was looking at Hermione when he asked the question, but Naomi and Wayne were the only ones responsible for answering. Cormac tried to keep a lively conversation with the three of them, but only Naomi and Wayne were responding. Despite Cormac's best efforts to bring in leading questions like, "What do you think, Hermione?" or "How do you feel about that, Hermione?" she was too foreign to being talked to out of the blue by handsome boys. Cormac did his best to keep an animated conversation, but Hermione was being – for a lack of a better word – awkward.

Feeling slightly defeated, once the crowd got to the cafeteria, Cormac deserted the trio. When the counselors walked into the dining hall, there were trays of food prepared by Mrs. Craig; nothing lavish and extraordinary, because she was responsible for cooking for twenty people, but no one would go to bed hungry.

Cormac got a plate and sat down at an end of a long table with Bri on one side and Nicky on his other. On the other side of the table sat, Gary Smalling, who was Nicky's counterpart as the other Head Counselor. Gary was either twenty-one or twenty-two. He was an older version of Cormac - handsome, bigger than Cormac, taller than most, beloved by all, but also had a mischievous side and with that an enchanting charm.

Hermione sat on the side of the long table closest to Mr. and Mrs. Craig. She was also joined by Naomi and Wayne, of course. The meal was fine. Hermione had a wonderful time with her friends as well as Mr. and Mrs. Craig, who she always got along with.

When the meal was deemed completed, Mrs. Craig asked that everyone threw out their disposable plates, cups, silverware and napkins. Nicky and Gary led the charge and made sure everything was placed in the large rubbish bins in the corner of the cafeteria.

"Last thing before we turn you loose for the night," Mr. Craig announced with his wife by his side, "Come get your "Staff" T-shirts, everyone gets five," he said pointing to four boxes placed next to the doors to the cafeteria, "and remember to meet at the amphitheater at nine tomorrow morning. Other than that everyone have a good night. Breakfast a little before that for anyone that wants it."

The counselors bid the Craigs a good night and the couple exited.

Once they were outside the doors, Gary spoke up, "Anyone that wants to hang out tonight with a few drinks, I'm going to bring a few cases of beer to the fire pit in an hour or so. Feel free to bring your T-shirts back to your cabins." He turned to address Cormac, "You get the fire started." Gary was almost done, but he wanted to add one caveat, "There is no pressure for anyone to drink, and we aren't going to get crazy, but I want everyone to at least show up."

With his last words, nothing was left to say and there was a mad dash for the boxes of T- shirts. Nothing could be more important than making sure that you were wearing the correct sized shirt on the first day of camp.

Hermione was unsure if there was some sort of a seniority rule so she waited her turn. This turned out to be foolish. People were ripping the boxes open to get their hands on the sizes they desired. People were shouting at friends that already had their hands in the boxes to have them toss out their sizes. Like a skittish puppy, Hermione stood on the outside while the frenzy proceeded.

"A handful of smalls for you," a soothing voice to her left said. Cormac held out a fistful of shirts, "I'm assuming that's what you were waiting for." He shot her a warm smile.

"Thank you," she said returning the smile with one of her own. Now that she had her staff shirts, she wanted to drop them off at her cabin. She peered around to try to find Naomi and Wayne, but they were nowhere to be found. Hermione reasoned that they'd spent the whole day at her side and they had an hour before they needed to be anywhere, so they were probably looking forward to some alone time.

"Walk you to your cabin?" Cormac asked her motioning his head toward the door.

Hermione hesitated, but silently allowed him to lead her out the door. When they stepped out, the summer sun was barely up and the hues of blue and pink looked beautiful. As the sun was creeping down over the west, Cormac and Hermione headed in the same direction of the falling orb toward the cabins.

"I don't know how I feel about these purple shirts," Cormac said holding one up so he could fully take in the design.

Hermione mimicked him, "They aren't too bad."

"I guess we will see how they look on Sunday," Cormac said tossing the set of five around the back of his neck. "Are you looking forward to spending eight weeks away from home?" Cormac asked her trying to create a conversation.

"It's not as long as a term at school," Hermione said shortly.

"Why are you being like that?" Cormac asked once they stepped onto Lower Bridge. They were the only people within eyesight.

"Like what?" Hermione said dismissively continuing to strut over the bridge.

With the gentlest grip he could use while also stopping her, Cormac grasped Hermione by the upper arm. They were standing on the apex of the very small curved bridge. "I'm trying to talk to you."

"Why?" she asked.

Cormac paused for a second and moved so that he was a foot away from her, "I want to get to know you."

He was about a head taller than Hermione so she looked up into his face. The blue sky behind him contrasted with his light brown eyes. He looked down on her with a serious interest. Hermione sensed that he genuinely wanted to get to know her, but the moment was ruined when Hermione saw a hint of flirtation cross over him. The nice moment was ruined.

She turned away from him and tried to huff away toward her counselor cabin. Cormac kept up with her step for step.

"You don't need to follow me, Cormac," by now the sun had just crept below the horizon.

"At the very least, I'm going to walk you to your door so that none of the things that go bump in the night come out and get you," he told her.

"I know these woods. Nothing here can hurt me," she said confidently.

Just as she finished saying that, something larger than a housecat scurried across the darkened path.

Hermione and Cormac both reacted. Hermione squeaked and retreated back a few steps, while Cormac swiftly moved to stand between Hermione and the unknown creature.

The curious critter slowed from scampering to look back at the pair. Cormac kept his eyes on the animal and reached back to make sure that he knew exactly where Hermione was standing. Completely on accident, he grazed her chest with the tips of his fingers.

"Sorry," he confessed naturally, as Hermione slapped his hand away. He picked his hand back up and found somewhere a little lower to make sure he could keep her an arms length away but also keep the critter away from her.

Cormac flailed his foot toward it and said, "Go on. Get going. Leave the pretty girl alone." To an outsider, it would look like he was doing some sort of silly dance. Still keeping himself between Hermione and the unknown animal, Cormac leaned a little farther out and after just looking back at Cormac's foot, the creature understood and bolted to the safety of the woods.

At no point were they in any real danger, but they sighed in relief.

"A real heart of a lion, Granger," Cormac said poking fun at her squeak, "The Sorting Hat really got the bravery right with you." He smiled while he good-naturedly jibbed her.

"There are more than one way to be brave, Cormac," Hermione pointed out, "And this camp only has enough room for one knight in shining armour."

"You think I'm a knight in shining armour?" the corners of Cormac's lips curled slightly.

"I've heard some people say that before," she said truthfully.

"Are they cute?" He said with a laugh.

"Eh, probably, but they're too good for you," Hermione said referring to her friends from years past and Nicky.

"Let's put our shirts away before something else tries to attack us," Cormac said taking the lead down the path.

**A/N: Again, sorry there hasn't been much yet in terms of sparks between these two, but I promise it will ramp up!**

**Best,**

**jrb2009**

**P.S. Should I invest some time for Chapter Titles? Or is the numbering fine?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here's another chapter with some cute Hermione and Cormac interaction. I hope it is helping build the characters. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 5**

15 seconds after their encounter with the local wildlife, the solar lights turned on and highlighted the surrounding pathways.

"These would've been useful a moment ago," Cormac said as his eyes abruptly adjusted to the new source of light. Cormac and Hermione had just crossed into the clearing near the fire pit, and all the cabins had their porch lights on to pinpoint their position in the darkening summer night.

"What cabin are you in, Cormac?" Hermione asked, because he was continuing to follow her.

"I'm right there," Cormac said pointing to the Hare's cabin.

"You're the counselor for the bunnies?!" Hermione couldn't believe it. There were always stereotypes that people tried to associate with the different cabins and most of the stereotypes were based on the characteristics of the animals.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cormac questioned her. He was proud of being a Hare, "What am I supposed to be?"

"I'd assume that the so-called 'Golden Boy' would be something more majestic, like an Eagle," she paused, "Or maybe you would get in trouble like a Fox."

"Nope, ever since I've been coming here I've been a Hare and I love it," Cormac explained, "you're looking at all the wrong characteristics. I'm fast and agile. Quick and a trickster. Coordinated and popular."

"Who said that a Hare is popular?" Hermione questioned his logic.

"Well, if I'm a Hare, they all must be popular," he was half-kidding.

Hermione rolled her eyes. They had reached the fork in the path that would lead Hermione to her Lady Otter Counselor cabin and Cormac toward the Hare cabins.

"I'll meet you at your cabin in a minute," Cormac told her, "can you keep from getting cornered by anything for a minute?"

"I'll be fine," she laughed at his overprotectiveness, but she had more to add, "But we don't need to meet for another 45 minutes."

"Yeah, but I lied when I told Gary that I knew how to start a fire," he winked at her as he turned and jogged back toward his cabin.

Hermione tried to think of the last time a boy winked at her. And her memories came up blank. She walked back to her cabin, climbed the steps, pushed the door open and tried to fold her new shirts and put them in the top of her drawers.

She hadn't even finished folding the second one, when a knock on the door had Hermione turn. Before she even said, "Come in" Cormac was stepping through the door.

"Cormac!" her tone was scolding.

He looked at her confused.

"You can't just walk into my room! What if I was changing?" she asked.

"But you aren't. So it's fine," he pointed out.

Hermione didn't have a real response to his point, because he was right.

"Just stay over there for a second," Hermione said. She was flustered. She had never had a boy in the dorms at Hogwarts, she'd never had a boy in her bedroom at home, and this was the first time she had a strange, albeit cute, boy in her cabin.

Cormac did the best he could to wait patiently. He leaned against the door frame and planted one foot firmly on the ground and laid the sole of his shoe against the frame as well. He stood silently with his arms crossed for comfort rather than a sign of impatience.

Cormac watched how meticulously Hermione moved to fold her shirts. She restarted twice because the sleeves didn't match up perfectly. Cormac was recollecting how he just crumpled his shirts in a ball and tossed them on his bed before running back to Hermione's cabin.

Hermione placed the folded shirts in her top drawer and turned to follow Cormac outside. She reached out for the door, but Cormac intercepted her hand with his and spun her on her heels like a ballerina. He led her out of the spin and sent her back toward her cabinet.

"It'll get cold outside. You may want a little jacket, or some long sleeves," he gently suggested.

"Cormac, I think I will be ok," Hermione corrected him and pushed her way passed him and headed outside. Cormac shrugged. He had changed into a long sleeved shirt and was wearing his jeans from earlier so he wasn't worried about himself.

Hermione immediately regretted her decision to not heed Cormac's warning once she stepped outside, because even though it was the summer and she wasn't freezing, she sensed that she was going to get colder soon.

They headed to the fire pit. Hermione had her arms crossed to try to keep her warmth sealed up. In a neat pile not too far from the fire pit, there was a stack of wood all uniformly cut. In a bucket next to the wood pile, there were scraps and shavings from the camp woodshop that were always kept dry.

Hermione went to approach the pile.

"Hold on, Granger," Cormac said pulling her by the back of her shirt. Hermione stopped moving.

Cormac picked up a long stick that was used as a poker for the fire from the previous summer. The stick was half the length of Cormac's body. He gently poked the stick around the wood pile and a few mice scampered away from the intrusive rod. One of the retreating rodents escaped the woodpile and was heading in Hermione's direction.

She squeaked again and stepped away. With impressive hand-eye coordination, Cormac thrust the poker to a spot directly in front of the advancing mouse. Quickly, the mouse turned on the spot and hurried to the safety of the woods.

Hermione had a hard time seeing Cormac's face with only the solar lights providing visibility, but she was certain he was smirking.

"Shut up," she said safely at a distance from the woodpile.

"I'll get everything, you just stand there and keep looking cute," Cormac said approaching the woodpile and picking up as many quartered logs as he could carry. Hermione blushed.

He took three or four trips to get enough wood close enough to the fire pit so that multiple trips wouldn't be needed once the remaining counselors arrived.

Hermione stood still holding herself to maintain warmth. It was worth it to be a little chilled rather than prove that she had been wrong. Cormac noticed as he was bringing back some of the very dry woodshop scraps that Hermione seemed to have an internal battle between being cold and being proven wrong. He smiled.

"Don't worry, the fire should be ready soon," he said catching a look at her trying to insulate her warmth, "but no promises. I told you that I'm not very good at this stuff." If Cormac wasn't very good at making fires, he was fooling Hermione, because he sure looked like he knew what he was doing. "Maybe if you talk to me, you won't be so cold." He paused, "No pun intended."

Hermione chuckled, "That was a pretty good one."

"I'm full of them," Cormac said, now reaching into the fire pit and placing the shavings and scraps in an airy pile in the center of the burnt area.

"Are you sure you don't know what you're doing?" She asked while Cormac was piling the quartered logs into a perfect teepee shape.

"Yeah, I normally don't get this to work. Are you brave enough to get the matches? They should be in the bin," Cormac said placing the last log exactly where he wanted.

Hermione walked the matchbox over to him and handed it over. While hunched across the stone barrier to the fire, he looked back up at her and smiled as he thanked her. There was either a warm breeze that came over her or his charm literally emitted heat.

After the sound of wood scraping against the striker side of the matchbox ceased, Cormac came back up.

"I can't get it to work," he said lifting his shoulders in defeat.

"What? How?" Hermione said looking over the end of the stone pit at the perfect set up.

"I don't know. You give it a try," Cormac said holding out the matches to her.

"I don't know how to either," Hermione confessed.

"It's easy," Cormac said too confidently, he raised Hermione's suspicions, "In principle." He added.

"Mhm," she sounded skeptically.

"Lean over here," he said patting a section next to him. Hermione did as she was instructed, "Take out a match," she did. "Light it, and try to start it right there." He put his finger between two of the supports that were holding up the log teepee.

Now Hermione knew that he was much more adept at starting a fire than he was leading on.

To lessen his level of perceived expertise, he said, "I think. I don't know."

Hermione did as he had instructed and placed the match right where Cormac showed her. The dry tinder caught fire and from the ignition point, the flames began climbing into the air. Hermione was no longer feeling chilled - as long as she stood close enough to the fire.

"Well done, Granger," Cormac said taking a step back to admire their work, even though he knew it was mostly _his_ good work and he knew it.

Hermione sat down on a bench that was close enough to keep her warm but also would keep the smoke from drifting in her direction. Cormac circled around the fire pit and found a seat that wasn't in Hermione's personal space, but was a conversational distance.

Both of them sat just watching the flames dance for a while. Hermione was the first to interrupt the silence.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" she said pointing down at the fire pit.

"I learned that here," he said without picking up his gaze on the different reds and oranges.

"How long have you been coming here?" Hermione asked. She knew that he said how long back in the academic building, but that seemed forever ago.

"Since First Year," he said casually.

"Cormac, we can't call it that here," Hermione hushed at him.

"No one can hear us," he said to her, "Look. I'M A WIZ…"

Coming over Lower Bridge and into the clearing to see the fire pit was three quarters of the group.

"You're a what, Cormac?" Gary called out to him.

There was a pause.

"A whiz at making a fire? I'd say so," he said appreciating Cormac's good work.

"Actually, Granger started it," Cormac said pointing to Hermione.

"Nice one," Gary said nodding toward Hermione.

She smiled curtly to him.

Gary placed a case of beer bottles down on a bench between Hermione and Cormac. The rest of the group joined the bonfire and two more counselors placed the same cases of beer on the same oak bench.

It wasn't long until the group of mostly teenagers tore into the cardboard and started popping the tops off of their beer bottles.

"Make sure we don't leave any bottle caps around. Mr. and Mrs. Craig will have a fit if we leave any of those for the campers to find." Nicky announce after she accidentally dropped her bottle cap on the floor.

All the counselors made a habit of placing their bottle caps in one of the opened cardboard boxes.

Hermione was still sitting down on her bench, starting to get a little chilly, when Naomi and Wayne showed up. It was only evident to Hermione that Naomi was suffering from a mild case of sex hair.

"Hey," Hermione said making room on her bench for both Naomi and her boyfriend.

"What did we miss?" Naomi asked her.

Hermione pointed to Cormac, "We came back here, put our shirts away and then started the fire."

"We?" Naomi whispered so only Hermione could hear, "Share some of the details."

"And with that I will leave you two to gossip. Do you guys want a beer?" Wayne asked standing up.

Without a hesitation, Naomi responded, "Yes, please."

Hermione took a moment to ponder if she _really _wanted one. She had had beer at several family events and it was common for her to be offered one, but it wasn't her favorite flavor. She really didn't want one, but she remembered that she promised herself that she would try new things, and drinking with a group of teenagers and people in their early twenties was something new to her.

"Sure," she said before she thanked Wayne.

Hermione went into more details about what she and Cormac did after the mad rush for staff shirts. With every word that Hermione finished, Naomi seemed to be on the edge of her seat waiting for something exciting to happen.

"…and then everyone showed up." Hermione finished recapping.

Just as she finished her boring recap, Wayne came back with three beers. He held one in his right hand and two were pinched between several fingers in his left hand. He extended the two uncapped beers toward the girls and they took them.

"Are you cold, Hermione?" Wayne asked as he watched Hermione shiver as she unwrapped her arms around herself.

"No I'm fine," Hermione told him. She was lying. She looked around to make sure that Cormac wouldn't be able to hear her, but she found him on the other side of the fire pit with several others. There was no way he would be able to hear from there.

Hermione went to turn her attention back to Naomi. As she opened up a conversation with her friend, she was able to catch out of the corner of her eye Cormac escaping behind the Hare's cabin.

Hermione went to ask Naomi about her time with Wayne. And Naomi didn't spare any of the details.

"So you guys are still a super couple," Hermione said to her.

"Yeah," she said dreamily, "and it's not just _that _stuff." She said referring to the sex, "He does things for me without me needing to ask. He just does it because he cares. You know?" Naomi finished.

Hermione nodded, but in reality she didn't really know what Naomi was talking about.

"Someone, grab me another beer," Cormac shouted above everyone else's voice. He was shaking an empty bottle in the air as he walked back from behind the Hare's cabin. He had a backpack on. He walked to the oak bench that had the beer rested on it and someone handed him a full bottle, while he rested his empty in the cardboard box. He took a swig out of his bottle and proceeded to the solar powered light post closest to the wood pile.

He took his backpack off and removed a set of speakers that he was able to plug into the solar powered light pole. The current hits started playing from the device. Cormac returned his now empty backpack back over his shoulders. When he turned back around to face the rest of the counselors, he had something in his hands.

Without a word, he dropped a sky blue crew neck sweater in Hermione's lap. He didn't bring any attention to it, but just casually plopped it in her lap. Hermione thought he would do something to have the last say, but he kept walking to a group of people that were assembled close to the fire.

Hermione didn't want to appear too cold, so she just wrapped the sweater around her lower arms and hands for a few moments. Cormac made a quick turn to look at her. He didn't want to make a big deal about it, but he gave her a look that said, "Go ahead, put it on. I know I'm right."

Hermione gave him a combined look of annoyance and thankfulness. She slipped her arms through the sleeves and popped her head out the top. She was one or two sizes too small for the sweater, but it was warm. The sleeves overhung past her hands and the torso of the garment would fit Hermione's knees inside it, something she would appreciate and test not much later.

"Remember when Cormac told you that he wanted to get to know you?" Naomi asked her.

Hermione responded that she remembered.

"He wants to _get to know you_," she emphasized.

Hermione turned her head to find Cormac, and he was deep in an animated conversation with Bri. She was laughing at his antics and was twirling her finger on his shoulder. He was laughing.

"I'm sure Cormac wants to get to know a lot of girls," Hermione said turning away from his direction and fully facing Naomi. She took a small sip of her beer and pulled her knees up through her new sweater to warm her exposed lower half.

Hermione and Naomi remained stationary in their seat while the others moved freely around the fire. Fortunately for the pair, whenever someone was tasked with adding a log from the fire that Cormac had constructed, they were forced to interact with the girls.

Hermione and Naomi were on their third conversation with Eric, the counselor who loved the water, when Hermione tipped her bottle back but there was nothing left.

"Let me get you another one," Eric said reaching back and grabbing an unopened bottle from where he was standing. He had the body of a swimmer and was unbelievably long. He handed the bottle to Hermione.

Hermione looked around, but when she didn't find the device she was looking for she had to ask, "Do you have the bottle opener?"

Eric smiled, "Yeah, I have it right here." He said taking the bottle from her. He twisted the top off and the carbonated air escaped.

"That's how you know it's the finest quality beer," Gary joked from behind them. And that's the interaction that started Hermione and Naomi getting to learn more about Eric and Gary. The four of them chatted until the boys needed another beer and moved on.

Later, Nicky came over and disclosed to them, how she couldn't walk away from Camp Craig and was roped into one more year. Slowly, more people came over and Hermione was really enjoying herself. She looked down at her watch and it was almost 11. All the beer was gone and they were just sitting around the fire.

Hermione was looking around the fire pit and was enjoying herself as she looked at all the different interactions. Some people were great friends. Eric was with another counselor discussing something about the professional football transfers. A group of two or three girls were gossiping about the latest celebrity news. Others seemed to be excited for work. Gary and Nicky were already discussing how camp was going to run over the next few weeks. And Hermione could already see the sparks of camp romance shine through. Naomi and Wayne were tangled up together on a bench making kissy-faces at each other. Another couple was off to the side talking intimately under one of the solar lights. And lastly, Bri and Cormac were sitting on the stones surrounding the dying fire.

Not in a creepy way, Hermione noticed that Cormac spent much of the night with this girl, and as Hermione looked at her, she seemed like she was everything that Hermione wasn't. Hermione only focused on Bri's incredible traits while she only focused on her own nerdy, introvert qualities.

Hermione's gaze was lingering longer than she wanted because both Bri and Cormac turned to look back at her. Shocked and embarrassed, Hermione didn't know what to do. She seemed to get a cold stare back from Bri, but Cormac gave her back a warm, flirtatious smile. This time, Hermione didn't mind the look over the smoldering embers.

"Alright everyone, let's call it a night," Gary was saying looking down at his watch and noticing the time.

People started to stand up and stretch from the stiffness of the brisk night air and from the perpetual sitting and standing.

"Boys," Nicky addressed the group at large, "go down to the lake and drown the fire. Everyone else, let's head to sleep. We have a busy, busy day tomorrow."

A pair of boys that Hermione still didn't know _that _well, picked up the tin pails by the wood pile and started the trek to the lake shore. Everyone else started gathering the trash and made sure there wasn't any evidence of their drinking at a children's camp. After they combed the area, people started saying good night. Gary and Nicky made their way toward Lower Bridge. The Head Counselors' cabins were located next to the gate house and the Infirmary. The counselors for the Ducks and Beavers made their way toward the lake and Upper Bridge. They didn't need to go over Upper Bridge but they needed to head in that direction. The Foxes and the Squirrels had their cabin behind everyone, the Hornets and Eagles had to go on the other side of the fire pit to get to their cabins. And the Otters and Hares headed back toward the academic building somewhere off a little closer to the woods.

Hermione stood up and started to pull Cormac's sweater up and over her head, but as she went to pull it all the way off, she was halted.

"Keep it for tonight," Cormac's voice said helping her pull it back over her and down to her shoulders.

Hermione turned to face him and thanked him. Cormac's hands were still on the hem of her sweater. As she turned, he let the fabric slide between his fingers, but once she had settled where she wanted to stand, Cormac was happy to have his hands so close to her body. Hermione saw the playful smile and for the second time she realized that she liked it. She smiled up to his face.

"Excuse us," the two boys said with the pails of water. Cormac and Hermione were forced to detach their stares and separate from one another and they took in a heavy breath as if it required a lot of effort to do so.

Cormac stroked his hair from front to back once and asked, "Walk you to your cabin?"

Hermione had a shy smile and she nodded.

The pair of them walked toward her cabin together. The remaining few people noticed and didn't think anything of it.

Cormac followed Hermione up the steps to her door. They stood in the lit porch area for a moment. They both went to speak at the same time.

"I'll see…"

"Have a…"

They both looked down at the floor at the cute moment smiling.

"Go ahead," Cormac said before she could interrupt him again.

"Have a good night, Cormac." She smiled then added, "And thanks for the sweater."

"Be careful. It's one of my favorites," he said reaching out and grabbing some of the loose fabric that fell at Hermione's sides. As he grabbed the material, he looked into her eyes and searched inside her brown orbs. He was searching in her eyes, because she seemed to be lost in his. Hermione oddly enough felt her body being pulled toward Cormac's.

Hermione wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next and she didn't get the chance to find out, because a voice and a body circled around Hermione's porch.

"Good night, both of you," the other Otter counselor said with a wave as he made his way behind Hermione's cabin toward his own.

"Good night, Ross," they both said together breaking apart quickly.

Again, Cormac ran his hand through his hair. Hermione tossed her hair behind her ear and looked back down at the ground.

"Good night, Granger. I'll see you in the morning," he stroked a strand of hair that she missed. After Hermione started turning red, Cormac held the door open and Hermione stepped through.

**A/N: There you have it. Hopefully, you are enjoying my attempt at building the characters. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far :)**

**Best,**

**jrb2009**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I hope everyone is liking this story so far! I know that it has been taking a sweeter turn for the most part, but things will spice up soon!**

**Chapter 6**

Hermione woke up the next morning and was sorry to hear her alarm going off. She set it to go off at 8:15 and she didn't want to get up, but she did her best to force herself up.

In the back portion of her cabin, there was a private bathroom for her. She quickly undressed and jumped in the shower. She put her hair up in a ponytail and put on some clothes that she wouldn't mind getting dirty, once she got dry. She picked up the sweater she borrowed from Cormac out of the pile of clothes that she slept in and brought it out the door with her.

Once out her doorway, she could see none other than Cormac McLaggen at the fork where the Otters' and Hares' paths met. He looked like he was heading toward the cafeteria rather than her cabin, but it was good timing.

"Is that my sweater?" he shouted back to her from the path.

"Yes," she nodded holding it up.

"Leave it there. I'll come get it later," he motioned for her to throw it back in her cabin.

She opened the door and tossed it on the floor. She then hurried out her cabin and met Cormac at the fork in the road.

"Good morning," Cormac said once Hermione was next to him. The pair of them headed toward the cafeteria.

"Morning," she said back to him with a smile.

"How'd you sleep? Any dreams about me?" Cormac asked her.

Hermione sighed annoyingly, "No, you gigantic ass."

He smiled and didn't say anything else. It was a short walk to Lower Bridge, and once there, they were halfway to the cafeteria. Cormac wiped the sleep from his eyes and yawned.

"God, it's going to be a long day today," Cormac was saying to himself more than Hermione.

"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked him.

"Hmm?" Cormac sounded absentmindedly, "Oh, I wasn't talking to you."

"What? Now you don't want to talk to me?" Hermione questioned him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cormac chuckled.

"All yesterday you were trying to talk to me, and the first time I want to hear what's on your mind you close up?" Hermione addressed him.

Cormac had just reached the door to the cafeteria and held it open for her so that she could walk in, "I don't know. It's just going to be a long day," he replied avoiding the question.

Hermione allowed him to hold the door for her, before she delicately stomped on his big toe.

The action hurt him minimally. It was funnier more than anything. Cormac reached out with his right foot and kicked her on the back of her upper thigh. Hermione spun around to look at him with disbelieving eyes. He shrugged his shoulders. Hermione was trying to think of something smart to say, but she was interrupted.

"Good morning, you two," Nicky's voice came from a corner in the cafeteria. Hermione and Cormac snapped their heads to the corner of the room where half of the counselors were eating a breakfast of boxed cereals. All of them had questioning looks on their faces.

Hermione and Cormac's playfulness dropped immediately. Hermione became red-faced and approached the table that had the cereal and milk. Cormac played off the interaction coolly. He went over and greeted some of the other counselors while Hermione made her escape to a seat next to Naomi and Wayne.

Naomi had a face of utter disbelief. Before Naomi even opened her mouth, Hermione interrupted her thoughts, "No."

"But…" Naomi continued.

"No." Hermione cut her off.

"Even though…" Naomi said looking back and forth from Hermione and Cormac.

"No." Hermione responded with a level head.

Everyone finished their breakfast, and no one openly brought any attention to Hermione and Cormac coming into the dining hall together as well as being seen heading to Hermione's cabin last night, but just because no one said anything didn't mean that the idea didn't came across several people's minds. Only half the counselors showed up for the makeshift breakfast, and once it was five minutes until nine, Nicky shepherded everyone to throw out the garbage and head over to the amphitheater.

By the time the members of the breakfast party turned the corner around the amphitheater stage, it was precisely nine. The other counselors that decided to skip breakfast for the extra sleep were sitting in the first rows of seats in the center. Mr. Craig didn't even bother to get up on the stage, because he was addressing such a small group.

"Ok good, everyone is here." He began, "Gary and Nicky, this is what I pay you for. I need to go meet a man about a dog, regarding getting the fields and courts painted with new lines. You guys know what to do. Take the truck and cart and bring back everything we need and put it in the correct places."

Gary and Nicky nodded.

"Yes? Perfect. Lunch around noontime," Mr. Craig said while jogging toward the athletic fields.

"Ok, you heard the man. To the storage barn," Gary said pointing in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Do you know where this is?" Hermione said leaning over to Naomi.

Naomi shook her head and looked next to Wayne who shrugged and shook his head.

"We will meet you over there," Nicky said taking a few other older counselors with her.

"Cormac, you ride with me," Gary said waving the boy toward him.

Cormac took three steps toward the Head Counselor, but stopped, "It's ok. I know the way. I'll make sure everyone gets there."

Gary called out to another pair of counselors to keep him company and they followed without hesitation.

Cormac took the lead and the remaining group followed him through a few different trails. It was a fifteen minute walk in the opposite direction as the cabins. They passed the cafeteria, the kitchen for the cooking sessions, and even the woodshop, which was the farthest Hermione had ever been at Camp Craig. There was an almost hidden path in the woods that was just behind the woodshop.

"Cormac, where is this?" Hermione asked, not tired, just curious after six minutes on the hidden path.

If she had been patient by ten more seconds, she wouldn't have needed to waste her breath. They stepped out to a clearing the size of a football pitch and in the opening there were two large storage barns. They looked ancient. Old masonry held them up. Stone was stacked again and again to create the unmovable barns, very typical of the region.

"Ours is this one," Cormac said heading to the barn that was closer and on the left," just as Cormac was unlocking a padlocked chain that held the barn doors closed, two vehicles pulled up. An old beige colored pickup truck with Gary and the other two counselors, and a golf cart with a small bed for moving supplies driven by Nicky and her crew.

It turned out that there was a more direct path through the woods that was manageable by foot, but in order for the vehicles to reach the storage barn there were windy roads through the woods and over streams that were three times as long as the footpath.

Cormac was having an issue with the padlock, "Gary, what's the combination?" He was getting frustrated.

"Move," he said smacking Cormac's hands out of the way.

Gary twisted left, then right, then left again and the lock came unhinged and the chain that sealed the barn doors fell to the ground. Gary took the large door on the right and Cormac took the one on the left and they opened them up.

Inside were all the bits and bobs and dos and dads that made Camp Craig tick.

"Oh boy," Wayne said looking in the cavernous space.

"This is why it's going to be a long day," Cormac whispered in Hermione's ear as he walked into the barn.

All the counselors stepped into the dark barn. It smelled dusty and musty. Quickly, they all got used to the scent the old building was giving off. The barn had two stories. All around the ground floor were different boxes with equipment and gear, and in the back were the larger camp needs like canoes on trailers and all the mattresses for the campers' cabins. The upper level wasn't solid all the way across. There were ladders that needed to be climbed against the walls, and the second floor was more or less a track that circled the building up to two or three meters from the wall with some of the lighter camp needs.

Gary rounded the boys together and started to organize how he wanted them to pull things out for the girls to create an inventory of what they had, and pile them based on where the supplies needed to go around camp.

Nicky took the girls and tried to map out how she wanted them to organize what they needed.

Girls started to spread out in the cleared area and waited while the boys started taking box after box out of the barn. Slowly, the amount of stuff inside the barn was making it into piles outside.

Sports equipment was piled in one spot, the cooking gear for the catering company was stacked to the side, medical equipment was being dragged out of the rafters. Wayne was standing up on the second floor and was throwing life vests to anyone that he could reach. Those stacked up nicely next to the other aquatic necessities.

"Ok, let's start to streamline this," Nicky suggested, "Make sure that we get anything that needs to go to the sports' sheds and lockers."

The boys switched their focus to scan the barn for any hiding basketball or volleyball. A few last minute things were found and Gary backed the pickup truck to the pile.

"Load it up," he said from the driver's side leaning out of the rolled down window. Two boys jumped up in the bed of the truck while Cormac and Eric handed them as much as they could fit in the truck. After reshuffling the equipment in three different configurations, they were able to make everything fit for one trip.

"You two, hold on and make sure nothing falls off. I'll go slow," Gary said. He didn't dare move the car until the boys were anchored and ready, but also supporting the load, "We will be back for a second trip in a bit," were his last words before they exited the clearing for the paved road.

Hermione was on her hands and knees trying to write down on a notepad all the medical supplies that were pushed into her pile. By far, that was the most tedious task of them all.

"How's it going down there?" Cormac's voice came from behind her. His shadow eclipsed her.

She looked up at him with frustration, "This is the worst," she confessed to him.

"This isn't a picnic either," he said wiping the sweat from his forehead. Hermione didn't notice until now just how sweaty he looked. He looked very manly.

Hermione stood up and wiped the dirt off her knees.

"Not comfortable on your knees, Granger?" Cormac asked with an impish grin.

"You're a prat," she said as she attempted to push him from his core. Cormac didn't budge. He flexed his midsection and his sweaty shirt outlined his muscular abdomen. Hermione retracted her hands because she had never seen something like that before.

Cormac laughed, "I think I saw some more things up top for you." He smiled to himself and strutted back into the barn. Hermione's eyes followed him back into the barn.

Her line of sight lingered just long enough to watch a flash of blonde follow him. Hermione let her gaze stay down toward the opening of the barn, but neither Cormac nor Bri exited. Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by Nicky.

"Hey, how are we on bandages? Mrs. Craig wanted to make sure we had enough for the usual bumps and bruises," she asked Hermione.

Hermione looked back down at her notepad and pointed to the number she had written down.

"Yeah, that should be enough," Nicky said making a mental note to herself that they had a decent amount. Nicky went back to check on other items that needed special attention.

Hermione looked back to the door and Cormac was carry two large boxes, one over each shoulder, to Bri's pile. They shared a smile before he went back in the barn. Bri followed him again. Eric exited the barn and brought a small box and put it down at Hermione's feet.

"Wayne tossed these down," he said, "I think these are the last of the stuff that needs to go to the Infirmary."

Hermione took the opportunity to see if she could catch up with Cormac in the barn. She trotted in a little too eagerly and a little too quickly. She was certain she was going to catch Cormac doing something with Bri, but what she got was much different.

The next thing Hermione knew, she found herself flat on her back.

Cormac was walking out from the back of the barn with three cheap foam mattresses above his head. The weight of the mattresses caused them to sag at the ends. They sagged so far down that Cormac couldn't see where he was going without staring at the floor two feet in front of him.

He wasn't walking very fast, but Hermione was trying to move quickly. As she turned the corner to enter the barn she made the mistake of running right into the mattresses. Cormac stood strong and firm, because he didn't want to drop the mattresses, but when he heard Hermione get clotheslined to the floor, he tossed them to the side.

Unfortunately for Hermione, everyone witnessed the accident. People were starting to get to their feet to assist her. She tried to prop herself up on her elbows and get up, but Cormac was easing her down.

"Oh fuck, I'm so sorry," he moved with incredible speed to drop down on one knee at her side. He placed one hand behind her head and held one of her shoulders, "Are you ok?" he asked looking into her eyes.

It wasn't the same kind of look he gave her the night before outside her cabin, but it was a concerned examining look.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to get up," Hermione said trying to get to her feet. She was embarrassed more than anything else. At this point, the other counselors were beginning to surround her.

"Don't move too fast," Cormac said helping her to her feet. He noticed Hermione make an involuntary wince, "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I was doing too much by trying to carry all those mattresses. I'm so sorry. Let's have you sit down."

Cormac led Hermione to the golf cart, and sat her down in the small bed of the vehicle. In the back there was a case of water bottles. Cormac ripped into the plastic, took out a bottle, and twisted off the top. He tried to get Hermione to drink something, but again she reassured him that she was fine.

"Ok you stay off your feet for a bit," patting Hermione on the thigh as he slowly backed away to return to the barn. His hand lingered on her leg for a second longer than he needed it to. As he backed up, he mouthed, "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," she worded back to him.

Hermione sat in the cart for a few minutes. She watched as Cormac, Eric and Wayne kept bringing out the foam mattresses. There were close to 150 mattresses that needed to be retrieved from the back of the barn and the three of them started to make a competition out of it. Each of them created their own pile and it quickly got out of hand.

All the girls stopped tallying their inventory and watched as they all ran into the barn and sprinted out carry three mattresses over their heads. It was comical watching them run with the giant rectangles hoisted above their heads. One time Wayne thought he was clearing the doorway, but got thrust onto his backside when his turn was too sharp and the mattresses were blocked by the door frame. Eric hurdled over his fallen friend, dropped his load in his pile and ran back for more. Cormac was pulling in right behind Eric, but Eric slapped his hand upward on Cormac's mattresses and they unbalanced and toppled to the floor.

All the girls laughed at the display that was going on. Unfortunately, the fun had to end when Wayne accidentally gave Cormac the same fate that Hermione suffered, but at much higher speeds.

Cormac tried to turn the corner as sharply as possible to save precious time. At the same time, Wayne was thinking the same thing. Cormac got a face-full of mattress.

From Hermione's perspective, his fall looked a lot worse than hers. Cormac's head snapped back and he got knocked off his feet. Wayne also got blasted backwards.

Hermione sprang to her feet and ran as quickly as she could to Cormac's side. He had grabbed his face and rolled to his front Hermione could see his chest heaving up and down and he seemed to teeter side to side involuntarily. Hermione was the first one at his side.

"Cormac, are you ok?" Hermione had real panic in her voice.

He rolled over with a dazed look. Half the group was hovering over him; the other half was helping Wayne up. Even though he was dazed, Cormac had been laughing. When Cormac started laughing, Wayne started laughing, and then everyone started laughing.

Cormac sat up and grabbed onto Hermione's arm and said, "I'm so sorry. That hurt so bad." He was referring to when he ran into Hermione.

"What about your head?" Hermione said examining him. She was gingerly wiping the leaves and dirt from the back of his head, "You hit your head on the ground – hard."

"I've had worse," he said getting back to his feet. He reached down to Hermione's hand and took the water bottle that she was still holding. He put it up to his lips and finished it. He sighed and handed the bottle back to her, "Thanks, beautiful." It wasn't the normal cocky tone he would use when we would be rude; it was a genuine use of the word.

Hermione raised his eyebrows at him.

Cormac's words caught himself by surprise. He recovered as quickly as he could, "Eh, maybe I have a slight concussion."

Hermione smiled, but threw the empty water bottle at him.

He was able to bat it away, but smiled too.

After the boys were back on their feet, they went back to barn. Before they came out with another series of mattresses, the pickup truck sped into the clearing.

Gary stepped out of the truck and shouted, "Let's try to get everything out of the barn and sectioned in piles, so we can head in for lunch."

The next ninety minutes were productive. The final things to get placed in the open clearing were the trailers with the canoes racked in them. It took two boys to push and pull the trailers out, but once they were in the clearing there was a mild sense of accomplishment.

Everyone was sweating. The sun was high in the sky and warming up the girls, while the boys were dripping with sweat. Most of them were breathing heavily or were bent over with their hands on their knees catching their breath.

"And the kids aren't even here yet," Cormac said pulling his shirt over his head. He balled it in his hand and used it to try to wipe off his brow with a dry spot, but there weren't any dry spots left.

Without hesitation, the rest of the boys followed suit. Hermione had to admit that it was a nice view.

"I think if we all squeeze we may be able to get everyone in the 'cars'," Nicky was saying looking at her tired pack of counselors. Gary agreed that they could try. Hermione was pulled by Naomi and Nicky to ride in the golf cart. The golf cart was designed as a two-seater with the short truck bed in the back, but they squeezed three people on the bench, Hermione included, and found a way for four people to stand in the truck bed. With Gary, there fit three in the truck cab, and the remaining eight were forced to spread out in the larger truck bed. They kicked the lift gate down and three sat down with their legs dangling off the edge, three others were sitting toward the middle of the cab, scared to stand or dangle over the security of the bed walls, and Cormac and Bri stood with their hands on top of the truck cab. All eighteen counselors fit.

Gary slowly went first and Nicky followed in the golf cart. Hermione felt some sort of twinge in her gut while she watched Bri look at Cormac like a piece of meat. Hermione was pretty certain that Cormac was doing the same thing. As they pulled into the camp circle by the flag pole, Bri was pulling some debris out of Cormac's hair while they both jumped down.

Hermione climbed out of the golf cart and reached in the back of the little bed. She trotted over toward Cormac and extended her hand, "Cormac, water?"

**A/N: I know that some of you (CheshireCat23) already aren't fans of Bri, and I'm trying to build a little eventual tension into the story with Cormac and her, as well as with Hermione and a mystery someone... Thoughts? Concerns? Reviews?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey, everyone. Happy Friday!**

**Chapter 7**

Cormac looked at Hermione with a quizzical look, "Sure. Thanks." He said taking the bottle from her, before he turned back to Bri.

Hermione didn't know what to say and didn't need to say anything, because Naomi dragged her to Naomi's side while they headed toward the cafeteria.

"What are you doing?" Naomi asked her.

"I'm trying to get his attention," Hermione whispered to her.

"You're doing it wrong," Naomi said.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"You need to…" Naomi was interrupted.

"I don't play games like that. You know that," Hermione told her friend.

"But I bet she," Naomi jerked her head toward Bri, "loves playing games like that."

"Hypothetically," Hermione hadn't even considered the thought until now, "if Cormac wanted to _get closer_ to me, he's going to need to, hypothetically, like me for me."

Hermione had promised she would try different things, but she was a strong, intelligent young woman and didn't need to play silly games to get the attention of a boy, especially one she didn't even know if she liked or not. Even though whenever he would touch her, it felt electric.

The gang of counselors showed up in the cafeteria and had a quick lunch again provided by the Craigs. They were reminded at the end of the meal that the catering company would be showing up in a few hours so their meals would be more geared for large groups.

Gary and Nicky were feeling the pressure of needing to get the rest of the camp equipment to their proper places, so after a short lunch they shepherded everyone back to the vehicles to head back to the storage barn.

After the ten minute drive down the windy roads and once everyone had come to a halt, the counselors dismounted and Gary laid out his plan. He was going to take as many people as he could and they were going to hitch one of the trailers with the canoes and bring it down to the dock, while they brought the rest of the aquatic gear, like fishing poles, life vests and paddles, as well as the boxes deemed necessary for Arts and Crafts. They would unload and leave a few counselors to tidy the supplies in boxes while the truck went back for another canoe trailer and a series of mattresses. This would repeat until there were no more canoes and no more mattresses. The mattresses were going to take the most amount of time. While Gary drove the truck, Nicky would take the golf cart and bring the kitchen supplies, Infirmary supplies, and other smaller necessities to their destinations.

Once the plan was set, Gary suggested that they comb the barn one more time.

Everyone that wasn't a Head Counselor walked in and checked in hidden corners and shadowed areas.

"What about these?" Hermione said kicking some old wooden ladders on the floor. There were close to a dozen.

"And what about these?" Naomi said next to Hermione with dozens of feet of string lights in her hands.

Some of the more experienced counselors gave each other knowing looks.

"You can just leave those there," Haley, a red headed girl that was in charge of the Lady Eagles said.

"What are all those looks for?" Wayne asked.

"You will see in time," Eric said cryptically.

"Is there anything else in there?" Gary's voice sounded from outside with a little impatience in his tone.

"Nothing that we need," Eric replied.

"Alright, let's get going we only have a few more hours of daylight," Gary said. Before anyone knew what happened, a canoe trailer was hitched to the truck and everything that Gary had outlined was ready to be transported.

"You, you, you and you," Gary said pointing to Cormac and Eric, and Bri and Hermione, "come with me." The boys jumped in the back of the truck bed and the girls climbed into the cab together.

Gary left the clearing, leaving Nicky in charge of the next moves. Gary drove passed the normal turn to take them to the camp circle, and drove by the Academic Building. There was a chain barrier keeping the truck from entering the small path to the camp. Eric needed to jump out of the truck bed to allow the truck access. Once the truck passed, Gary slowed to a crawl so that Eric could run and jump into the car in one move.

Gary pulled up to the Arts and Crafts building first and parked the truck. All five of them unloaded the truck. Cormac, Gary and Eric did most of the heavy lifting, but once everything that belonged in the building was off the truck, they climbed in the cab, and went to deliver the rest of the load by the docks.

Hermione and Bri were now alone to get the Arts and Crafts room ready for the next day. They both picked up a few boxes and silently started to unpack things. It was a quiet first thirty minutes. By this point, they had moved everything inside and were only left with the unpacking.

Hermione was putting paintbrushes in a tin can that she was going to rest on the windowsill on the other side of the room. She walked over and placed it down. She peeked her head up and saw the old beige truck out by the lake and a pair of shirtless sweaty boys.

Cormac and Eric were helping ease the third and final canoe trailer down to the bank. Cormac was one hundred meters away and Hermione had no problem watching him from where she was. Eric jogged back to the truck, and Hermione could see Gary waving for Cormac to hurry up, but he made his way to the water's edge and splashed himself a few times to cool his body down.

"That Cormac McLaggen," Bri said dreamily from the next window.

"Hmm?" Hermione involuntarily asked turning to look at her.

"Come on, Hermione. You see him," Bri said still gazing out the window. Hermione continued to listen, "And he seems to have eyes for you." She said that nonchalantly.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She didn't know this girl, and she didn't know how to have these kinds of conversations.

"Am I wrong?" Bri asked stepping away from the window for the first time.

"I wouldn't know," Hermione would rather play dumb than actually ponder whether or not Cormac genuinely 'liked' her.

Bri felt that Hermione was being cold toward her so they didn't exchange any more words. Hermione remembered that she promised herself that she would try different things this summer, but something about Brianna Craig rubbed her the wrong way. They finished unpacking all the Arts and Crafts equipment and headed outside.

Just through the doors of the Arts and Crafts building was the fire pit. The girls made the fire pit their destination and before they even reached the first oak bench the truck came barreling into the clearing where the cabins and the girls were.

There was an unsafe amount of mattresses loaded in the truck bed, and three counselors were standing in the bed making sure that the mattresses wouldn't fall overboard. Gary pulled the truck outside the Squirrel cabins and the boys in the back quickly threw all the mattresses off the truck bed and jumped to the floor.

"We will be right back with more," Gary said out the driver's side window. Next, he looked at the girls, "You guys, hop in the cab and we can bring you back to the storage barn. Hermione and Bri started to walk toward the passenger's side door. Gary had kicked Cormac and Eric out of the cab. As Hermione and Bri circled to the other side of the truck, the boys were exiting.

Cormac flashed a smile at Hermione, but she didn't return it. For some unknown reason, Bri's words and tone about Cormac confused Hermione.

Gary drove them back to the storage barn where Cormac and Eric quickly filled the truck bed with another unsafe amount of mattresses. Hermione and Bri dismounted and waited for Nicky to come back for the last box of supplies for the Creative Theater building.

Four hours later, the entire gang of counselors dragged themselves into the dining hall. Everyone was drained from the long grueling day. It was five thirty and dinner was promised to them.

Finally, the catering company would be providing the food. Not that Mrs. Craig's cooking wasn't up to snuff, she just wasn't experienced enough to be able to provide twenty people with enough nutrients to get them through the demanding day they had.

The ragged counselors piled in line and filled up their plates with hot food, went to the sitting area and plopped down on the benches.

"Thank you for all your hard work today," Mr. Craig's voice said, "I know how much it is to ask you to do that, but now we are ready to open tomorrow. You all have the rest of the night to yourselves. Next time, we are going to meet is eleven o'clock tomorrow to get ready for the campers coming at noon." Next, he turned to Gary and Nicky. He held up his thumb and index finger, "No fights. No hospitals. That's all I ask." The two head counselors nodded knowingly. "Ok, then everyone, have a good night."

Once Mr. Craig had left the room, all the counselors went back to finish their meal. Several went back for seconds, but once everyone had finished, the whole group brought their plates and silverware to the designated section of the dining hall where the hired dishwashers could clean them and have them ready for the next meal. That was another perk of the catering, no more disposable flatware.

Gary had one last announcement before he let everyone loose for a few hours, "So it's six fifteen now, and everyone is free to go, but we should look to meet at the amphitheater around nine for one last," he paused, "meeting." He had a sly smile that Hermione didn't trust, but he was in charge so she didn't question it.

"Where are you going right now?" one of the counselors that really took a liking to Gary asked.

"Some of us are going to go meet some of the counselors of Camp Adventure," Gary confessed.

Some of the younger counselors gave quick faces of disgust.

"I know, I know," Gary said, "but it'll be fine. There are certain things we need to take care of." He finished ominously.

As all the counselors headed outside there was still one or two hours left of summer sunlight. Those that didn't follow Gary and Nicky to the traffic circle and the truck were discussing the possibility of taking a nap, or heading to camp store where there was a TV, couches, billiards tables, table tennis tables and other similar activities.

Hermione didn't want to be left alone and was looking for some interaction with some people she was familiar with. "What are you guys going to do?" She asked Naomi and Wayne.

"We were thinking about heading to my cabin," Naomi said with a smile and quick look at her boyfriend. Hermione understood that they would want to have some alone time, but she was disappointed.

"Ok, I guess I can lay down for a nap, then," Hermione said weighing her other options, but also having a wave of tiredness come over her.

"Walk you to your cabin, Granger?" Cormac's voice came from behind them. He was leaving a large group of people that were heading to the camp store.

"I can walk myself, Cormac," Hermione didn't know why she was being cold.

Without missing a second, Cormac replied, "Great, then you can walk me too."

Naomi and Wayne both let one giggle out at his joke. Hermione just rolled her eyes and allowed him to follow.

Gary, Nicky and two other counselors that would probably be the Deputy Head Counselors, if the position existed, were on their way to meet the Camp Adventure group, nine people headed to the camp store, one person took upper bridge to take a nap in the Lady Ducks' counselor cabin, and the group of Cormac, Hermione, Naomi and Wayne took lower bridge.

Once on the other side of the stream, Wayne and Naomi snuck away to Naomi's cabin. Cormac and Hermione kept walking toward the side of the clearing where the Otters and Hares were.

"Oh shit," Cormac sighed as they stepped into the larger clearing. Hermione didn't know what he was doing, but he tore off at an alarmingly fast rate towards the waters' edge. Hermione went after him, but trailed behind as Cormac seemed to run even faster.

Halfway to the lake, Hermione saw why Cormac swore. One of the canoe trailers had come off the blocks that were keeping it from rolling around. Because it had come off its chocks, the trailer rolled slightly down the bank and tipped over. Several canoes were toppled on the beach, but one was floating toward the middle of the lake.

"What do we do?!" Hermione shouted to him.

Cormac was almost in the water. He had pulled his shirt over his head and had kicked his shoes off. He was sitting on his rear pulling his socks off before he jumped into the water. He was up to his waist when Hermione reached the bank.

"What's your plan?" Hermione asked feeling her analytical mind working.

He turned back to face her, "I'm going to swim out there and bring it back." He said that as if any other response would've been stupid.

"How are you going to bring it back, jackass?" she shouted to him.

"I'll…." He didn't have an answer.

"Are you going to tow it?" she asked mocking him.

"I hadn't thought about it," he said stopping completely.

Hermione kicked her shoes off and sat down to take her socks off too, "Come back here and get a canoe." She said like she was speaking to an idiot.

Cormac ran back through the water. By the time he got back on the sandy/muddy bank, Hermione had retrieved two paddles from the pile near the trailered canoes. She also held out two life vests.

Cormac took the paddle and thanked her, but when she extended the life vest, he chuckled, "Absolutely not."

Hermione wasn't going to push the issue, because the canoe was floating farther away. She strapped on her life vest while Cormac grabbed one of the canoes on its side and quickly slid the boat into the water.

"Ready?" Cormac said in knee deep water. He was holding the vessel steady so that Hermione could step in.

While Cormac held the boat, Hermione made her way to the front seat of the canoe. Cormac pushed them out until the water was up to his waist and he lost the leverage needed to push. Expertly, he jumped up and pulled himself in the boat. It rocked violently.

Hermione gripped onto the edges of the boat for dear life, "Careful!"

Cormac laughed derisively, "Can you not swim, Granger?"

"I can swim just fine. I just don't want to get all wet," she replied.

Cormac refrained from making a sexual joke; because he needed her help and he didn't see the point in upsetting her with his immaturity.

As a team, the pair of them headed for the drifting canoe. It had only made it a few hundred meters from the shore, but it would've been too difficult for Cormac to swim to it and drag it back.

In their canoe, Cormac provided most of the propulsion forward with his strong shoulders and back. Hermione used her energies to make sure that they were pointing in the most efficient direction. It took six minutes of vigorous paddling from Cormac to reach the boat. The boat wasn't in any danger, but Cormac just felt responsible for its safe return.

They pulled up alongside the stray canoe and Hermione linked the other to them with the hooked edge of her paddle. Cormac requested that she held the boats steady while he switched to the deserted one.

Taking great care not to upset Hermione by creating too much motion, Cormac stepped from boat one to boat two.

"Thank you, Hermione," Cormac said with a sigh of relief once the boat was under control.

She smiled back at him, and they headed back to the beach. Hermione had no idea how tiring it was to paddle a canoe with one person. Slowly, Cormac started to pull ahead of her as she slowed drastically.

Cormac turned his head back to see her slow down. Hermione tried to put on a show and keep him from seeing her tire as he looked back, but he saw through the façade.

"Hook your paddle here," he said pointing to the back of his canoe. Hermione reach forward and trapped the lip of his canoe with her paddle. Cormac propelled both of them. He would take two long pulls on the left side of his boat and then two from the right. It didn't look hard for him, and from Hermione's view she was certain that it wasn't hard. His arms were big and defined, his shoulders were flexing powerfully against the resistance the water offered, and his back tightened up with each time he drove his paddle in the water.

The whole time he was paddling Hermione just admired his body. He picked his paddle out of the water and placed it in his boat. He peered over the edge of his boat and thought it was reasonable for him to stand in it. He jumped out, grabbed the back of his boat, and allowed Hermione's canoes to float passed him with the momentum from his paddling. As hers passed in front of him, he took her canoe in his grasp.

With one boat in each hand, Cormac pushed with his legs toward the beach.

"I think I can paddle now," Hermione told him trying to be helpful.

"No, it's ok. I'm admiring the view," he said with a slick grin toward her.

Hermione smiled back at him, sometimes she found his words annoying, other times he was charming, but he didn't need to know that _sometimes_ she found him charming – not yet. She placed her hand in the water and splashed him in the face.

He made an upset sound but still smiled. When he wiped the water out of his eyes, Hermione was still smiling back at him, which made him smile harder once he could see again.

Cormac's pushing had them approaching the bank. He slowed the boats down and circled to the front. He held Hermione's boat steady so that she could step out. With one hand on the boat and one hand held out to help her step out, Cormac assisted her successfully back on the bank. Next, Cormac grabbed the boats and dragged them to the safety of the dry land.

Cormac dragged the fallen boats to the grass that the other trailers were at. He neatly arranged them so that they looked presentable. He didn't try to move the trailer by himself and didn't want to ask Hermione to help him with such a heavy task.

By the time he was done, Hermione had already put her socks and shoes on. She was standing next to his stuff in the grass. Cormac sat down, put his socks and shoes on and turned to look at the water.

Hermione was still standing there politely waiting for him. She was still feeling sleepy and the paddling didn't help. A nap sounded great.

"Are you coming?" she asked him.

"Hold on, come sit," he said reaching up and taking her by the hand.

Hermione looked out over the pretty water with the different colors reflecting off it, but then she looked down at her hand that was in his grip and she was helpless. She went to sit on the grass next to him. Before her shorts made contact with the ground, Cormac threw his shirt under her like a makeshift blanket.

"It is pretty," she said looking in the same direction as him.

They still had time with the sun in the sky, and it was still keeping them warm and drying Cormac's lower half. Cormac took his hands from resting on the floor behind him to behind his head as he fell backwards to lie on the grass.

Hermione turned back to look in his direction. His eyes were closed and his shirtless midsection was raising and falling gently. She was admiring the shape of the best body she had ever seen.

"You know I won't bite," Cormac said with one eye slightly opened in her direction.

Hermione turned away slightly embarrassed.

Cormac smiled, "Lay back. The sun feels great." His eyes were closed again.

Hermione was starting to feel like sleep was going to rush over her, but she listened to Cormac. What would it hurt? She leaned backwards slowly. Her hair fell back and when she was expecting the cool ground, the back of her head met something much harder than soft grass. This propped her head up slightly. She shifted her head to the right and she rested on something more fleshy, but very comfortable to lean back on.

She wanted to get to her cabin for a nap, but she could close her eyes just for one second….

**A/N: Unsure how I feel about how this chapter started, but a fan of chasing the canoe down. What could Gary and Nicki possibly be up to with Camp Adventure?!**

**Best,**

**jrb2009**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So I sent this chapter to be read by a Beta Reader, and she responded that this was her favorite chapter so far, which was encouraging. I'm doing the best I can to prepare more chapters, but also edit as much as I can so I can post for your pleasure.**

**Chapter 8**

Hermione was jostled out of her sleep when her pillow extended and was removed under her head abruptly. She wanted to complain but was still drunk from her nap.

"I'm so sorry," Cormac started saying.

Hermione sprang up from lying down. She turned to look at him and he was flexing his left arm over and over while he reached with his right hand for his t-shirt that was still under Hermione's bottom. He was wincing with each fist he made. Hermione looked at him with confusion.

"My arm fell asleep like forty minutes ago. I was starting to get scared I was going to lose permanent functionality." He was also pulling his shirt over his torso, "also, the sun went down five minutes ago and I'm starting to get a little cold." She gave him an incredulous look, "I didn't want to wake you up."

Hermione almost cooed. He was just lying in the grass losing feeling in his arm and putting up with the cold just so that he wouldn't disturb her.

"Cormac, you didn't have to do that!" Hermione said immediately feeling bad.

"Now, I know," he said still flexing his grip.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked while stretching her arms and yawning.

"I don't know, but it can't be much later than eight. The sun just went down." Cormac reminded her.

"So what now?" Hermione asked working to get to her feet.

"I'm going to take a hot shower and warm up," Cormac said with a quick shiver, "and then I'm going to get ready for our nine o'clock meeting."

"I was wondering about that," Hermione said offering Cormac a hand to stand up, "what are we supposed to wear to that?"

"You can wear anything," Cormac said instinctively after he thanked her for helping him to his feet.

Now that they were both standing, they made their way toward their counselors' cabins.

"I'll see you in a bit, Granger," Cormac said turning at the fork in the path, "and thanks for helping me get that canoe."

"It was no problem," Hermione said smiling and stepping on the other path that led to the right.

Just as Hermione was climbing the steps to her porch, two figures exited out of her cabin.

"What are you guys doing?" Hermione questioned the pair.

"Where were you?" Naomi said ignoring Hermione's question.

"I was over by the water," she told Naomi and Wayne and then she repeated herself, "What are you guys doing?"

"We were looking for you," Wayne responded for both of them.

"What were you doing over there?" Naomi asked, "We looked for you here and then we went to Cormac's and then we came back here. What was so interesting by the lake?"

"Cormac needed my help with something," Hermione said vaguely.

"More Cormac, huh?" Naomi looked intrigued.

"Move," Hermione wasn't in the mood for her best friend's antics, "I need to shower and get dressed for this meeting thing."

"We wanted to ask," Wayne started, "what is this meeting?"

"I have no idea," Hermione told them honestly, "but hopefully I can show up in pajamas." The thought of crawling into some sleep pants and a top sounded heavenly.

"Ok, swing by my cabin before you go to the stage," Naomi said holding the door open so that Hermione could enter and begin winding down for the evening.

Hermione closed the blinds to her cabin and stripped down. She dragged the towel that she used from that morning off of her headboard and brought it to the bathroom. She turned the knobs praying that there would be some hot water left. She was pleased to see that steam was coming out of the showerhead and decided not to test her luck.

She showered as quickly as she could, and with good reason, because just as she was finishing rinsing herself off, the water became much icier. With a sharp gasp, she turned the water off and began to towel dry.

Hermione went to her drawers and pulled out a set of clothes that would be comfortable for her to sleep in. She took out a pair of underwear, no bra, a tank top that she would sleep in and a pair of pajama pants.

Hermione twisted her towel up in her hair and sat down on her bed. She finally had a moment to read the book that she placed on her nightstand the first time she unpacked. Hermione idly flipped through the pages of fiction, before she saw that it was time to meet the other counselors.

She marked her place in the book, let her hair out and hung her towel before she grabbed a hair tie and threw it in a lazy ponytail.

As Hermione approached her door, she was certain that by sheer coincidence she would bump into Cormac again, but when she stepped over the threshold of her cabin, he was not standing in the fork. He was nowhere to be seen.

Somewhat disappointed, but foolishly so, Hermione continued to Naomi's cabin. She knocked on the door and the two exited. Both of them were wearing lazy clothes. Not the same level of pajamas that Hermione was wearing, but mostly baggy sweatpants and t-shirts. Naomi was certainly wearing clothes that belonged to her boyfriend, so Hermione reasoned that she wouldn't be the most underdressed of the lot.

The trio made their way up and over Lower Bridge toward the amphitheater. The sound of voices was much louder and more excited than Hermione would imagine for a late night counselors' meeting.

The three of them proceeded down the stairs and realized that they had made a big mistake. People were dressed much differently than the three of them. Boys were wearing jeans and nice tops, while the girls looked cute and had their hair mildly done. People were sitting on the lowest rows casually.

"What are you guys doing?" Nicky said stifling back a laugh.

Hermione, Naomi and Wayne immediately had waves of self-consciousness roll over them.

"Aww, you guys thought a 'nine o'clock meeting' meant an actual meeting," Nicky said. The rest of the group cackled comically.

"That's enough," Cormac said waving his hands down at everyone. He was having the hardest time from suppressing his laughter.

"You guys should probably go back and change," Gary suggested to them, "but you're going to need to walk or the rest of us will be late, and all the good beer will be gone."

"Where are we going?" Hermione felt very silly for asking, but by this point she already looked like a fool.

"We're going to have a little party," Eric said.

"How come no one said anything?" Naomi asked, confused on why people wouldn't explicitly say anything, or give any instructions.

"Uncle John seems to be a fan of don't ask don't tell – like my father. He believes what he doesn't know won't hurt," Bri started, "if we went around talking about it, we probably would be told 'No'." It made sense.

"Alright, you three, go change," Nicky pointed at the three latest comers, "everyone else let's get to the cars." She was referring to the truck and golf cart, "Cormac, we're going this way."

"I'll make sure they know the way to the storage barns. They've only been there once," he said ascending the steps and heading toward Lower Bridge with Hermione and her friends.

Once over Lower Bridge, Naomi and Wayne separated to their cabins to get dressed. Cormac walked with Hermione toward her cabin.

"You don't need to always walk me to my cabin, Cormac. I know where it is," Hermione said to him.

"Yeah, but why not?" Hermione could see his smile from the light the solar lamps were emitting.

"But I do like it," she confessed to him after feeling enchanted by his smile.

He continued beaming at her.

Hermione looked at him and he looked so dashing. His hair was styled like all the celebrities of the day, he was wearing a simple V neck shirt with a green utility jacket unbuttoned over top, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of high top shoes.

They made it outside Hermione's cabin and just as Hermione went to take the first step, Cormac placed his hand on the small of her back in an attempt to assist her. Hermione smiled at the contact.

Hermione opened the door, turned back to him and said, "I'll take one minute." That was her way of telling him to wait outside, but he was oblivious.

Cormac stepped into the doorway behind her.

"Cormac!" Hermione's tone was scolding again.

"What? You said you would take one minute! I'm going to hold you to that," he said looking at her innocently.

"Cormac, I need to get changed," she said staring at him.

He made a gesture with his hands that said, "So what's the big deal?"

"Like naked. So go outside," she said with no more patience.

"Oh god, I won't look," he said putting his hands over his eyes, making it seem like it was a lot of effort for him.

"And turn around," she said waiting for him to obey.

She couldn't see, but he rolled his eyes behind his hands and acquiesced the request.

As soon as Hermione was certain he couldn't see, she lifted her top off and quickly popped a bra on. Next, she shimmied out of her pajama bottoms and found a pair of cute jeans shorts. She put on the same tank top she had intended to sleep in, but this time she covered herself with a button up shirt that she left mostly open.

"You know, there is some sort of theme in the ancient Roman works where the hero never peeks," Cormac paused waiting for Hermione's comment, but nothing came out, "It has something to do with the innocence of eternal beauty."

He was still facing the door, and when Hermione didn't respond, he turned to face her and removed his hands.

"Hey!" Hermione shouted back at him.

"I never tried to play the role of the hero," Cormac said admitting to being caught peeking, but had a smile that Hermione couldn't remain angry with.

"Luckily, for you, I'm dressed and almost ready," Hermione said looking to do something with her hair while she quickly etched on some eyeliner in the bathroom mirror.

"You can take your time and put on more mak…" Cormac didn't get to finish his thought because when Hermione turned around, he understood that she didn't need any more makeup.

He taken aback by her and almost lost his cool for a second. The words, "You look gorgeous" almost spilled out of his mouth.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked noticing his look.

Cormac had to recollect himself, "You look good." He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he caught himself.

Hermione didn't want to overhype herself, but she thought she looked a little better than just "good", but she didn't let that stop her.

Hermione crossed the room to where Cormac was standing, flipped the light switch off and asked, "Ready?"

Cormac turned the doorknob and Hermione stepped out. As she stepped outside, Cormac again assisted her by the small of her back. Once outside, Cormac still had just the tips of his fingers resting behind her. Hermione's thoughts brought her back to the beach of the lake earlier that day and she wasn't watching where her feet were going when she misjudged the last step.

She was certain she was going to stumble to the floor and look like a fool, but in a swift move, Cormac sprang down the two step difference to the flat ground and prepared himself. His touch was no longer delicate by the tips of his fingers, but now he wrapped Hermione around the waist. His other hand came across his body and supported her by the upper arm that was closest to him. They made a quarter turn after all the movement was done, but Hermione had not stumbled, instead, she felt very safe in his arms.

"Are you ok?" he asked still holding her tightly.

"Yeah," she said surprised how quickly he caught her, "I wasn't watching where I was going. I was being dumb."

"Hermione Granger, I don't think you could be dumb if you tried," Cormac said releasing his tight grip on her, but leaving his hand on her lower back, "and I like that about you."

Cormac was facing forward while he said that. Hermione turned to face him, but it seemed like he was pretending that he never said anything. Hermione brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

From the distance of the fork in the path between the counselors' cabins for the Hares and Otters, Cormac and Hermione could see Naomi and Wayne waiting at the apex of Lower Bridge.

"We were wondering if you guys had forgotten us," Wayne shouted from a distance.

"Or coming at all," Naomi said so that only her boyfriend could hear.

"You need to stop meddling," Wayne said wagging a spirited finger at her.

Naomi took his hand and playfully bit it.

Cormac and Hermione strode up to the bridge and without breaking stride; Naomi and Wayne joined them for their trek through the woods to the storage barns. By the time the counselors walked passed the Woodshop, there were no more lights that illuminated their path. They could only use the shreds of moonlight that broke through the trees. Naturally, Naomi and Wayne fell behind Cormac's pace. Hermione was able to keep up with him because they were walking side by side.

Hermione stumbled twice during the early stages of the darkened trail and Cormac caught her each time. After the second time that she tripped, Cormac reached next to him and grabbed her tightly by the waistband of her shorts.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him as she tripped again.

He had a much easier time keeping her from toppling over this time.

"Oh," she said a little embarrassed.

"Come on. Walk in front of me," Cormac said placing his hands on either side of her waist so that she could see first. Cormac was confident that he could walk without seeing too far in front of himself, and walking like this gave Hermione the best chance to see where she was going and not stumble a fourth time.

They walked in tandem for another ten minutes through the dark path, and Cormac was beginning to lose interest. He could see that the way ahead was lit, so he began surveying his surroundings. They were almost outside the path and in the clearing where the storage barns were.

"How are you two doing back there?" Cormac turned his head as he shouted back to the couple behind him, he didn't have a chance to hear their response, because he used every ounce of restraint to not trample Hermione, "What the.."

Hermione had just stepped out of the path and was taken away with what she saw. She was so shocked,that she came to a halt. When she didn't continue moving without warning, Cormac came up behind her without stopping.

He would've plowed her right to the ground if he hadn't worked so hard to keep Hermione on her feet. Cormac swung his arms under hers and lifted her upward before she fell down. He held her tightly until she could steady herself. He took a deep breath of relief and accidentally smelled her hair. It was almost intoxicating.

"You can let me go, Cormac," she felt like he was still holding her like a toddler learning to walk.

Cormac jumped out of his daze and released her.

Naomi and Wayne caught up to them and both of them swore. In front of them, was something that looked like it belonged in a movie.

Between the two storage barns, were the wooden ladders that Hermione had found on the floor in the storage barn. They were spaced out in some calculated pattern. There were stringed lights tangled that spanned across the gaps in the ladders and were tangled in the higher steps. The lights circled the whole area where young adults, the counselors from Camp Craig and Camp Adventure, were. The lights ended up being plugged into an ancient looking diesel generator. Music was coming from a large speaker set that didn't need to compete with the generator for volume. Folding tables were placed around the lit area. On these tables were coolers filled with bottles of beer, wine, and different liquors. All the things that the older counselors went out for earlier while Cormac and Hermione took their nap by the lakeside.

"Finally, we were getting nervous that you weren't coming," Nicky shouted to the group that just stepped out of the clearing. She was mostly aiming her words at Hermione and Naomi, "I've wanted to get drunk with you girls for the longest time. My little Otters." Nicky said feeling nostalgic.

She took Hermione and Naomi around the neck each and walked with them under an archway of hanging lights and to the group of a little more than thirty. Cormac and Wayne followed.

"Go ahead and help yourself to anything you want," Nicky said releasing them and heading to a cooler and pulled out a vibrantly colored bottle and mixed something together.

"What do we want?" Hermione asked to Naomi.

"If I may suggest," Cormac lips came close to both their ears, "Don't touch that." Cormac pointed to one of the water jugs that normally were stored by the athletic fields. Two boys that Hermione hadn't recognized before, but were definitely her age, had their disposable cups below the spigot of the water jug and a red liquid was flowing into their cups. "That never ends well for anyone," Cormac finished.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked as the boys filled their cups to the very top.

"You start to have fun very quickly, but waking up tomorrow isn't much fun," a smooth voice came from behind the girls, but this time it wasn't Cormac's voice.

Hermione turned around and Ryan Craig was circling around Cormac in order to face her. Hermione was stunned. She had completely forgotten about the handsome boy.

"Ryan," she said borderline shocked, borderline dreamily.

Cormac raised an eye, "You know him?"

Ryan ignored Cormac, "I told you I'd see you around." His smile was so contagious. He paused for a second, "You don't keep very good company, Hermione." He said nodding towards Cormac.

**A/N: I think I need to change the title of this story. I didn't really spend a good amount of time coming up with a solid title. Any ideas based on what has been going on so far? I guess I'm the only one that knows where the story is actually going for the long term, but I would appreciate ideas. Does anyone have anything smart or witty?**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey everyone, I meant to upload this last night, but the time got away from me. Hope you enjoy.**

**Chapter 9**

Cormac tipped his head back and quietly allowed some derisive laughter to escape his mouth. Hermione looked at him and he seemed to be balling his fists up tightly. He seemed at a loss for words for the first time Hermione had ever truly known Cormac. Fortunately for him, she came to his rescue.

"That's one opinion," Hermione said with a little attitude, "he doesn't seem so bad."

"Oh, you must not know Cormac very well then," Ryan said with a smile toward Hermione. Next, he looked at Cormac and clapped him on the upper arm.

Cormac's face tightened in very subtle way.

"Why don't you got get a drink, Cormac?" Ryan said clapping Cormac on the shoulder again.

"Don't tell me what to do, Craig," Cormac said with a little harshness in his voice.

"Aw, come on, McLaggen. Give me a chance to talk with, Hermione," for the third time he tried to belittle Cormac by hitting him on the arm.

This time, Cormac slapped Ryan's hand away, "Why don't you piss off?!" Hermione wasn't sure if it was the comment about her or Ryan's continued arm slapping that set him off.

Ryan quickly twisted and faced Cormac, "There's no need for me to kick your ass in front of everyone here." He said it softly, but that made the situation much tenser.

Gary and another large counselor came over hurriedly. Gary grabbed the back of Cormac's collar and the Camp Adventure head counselor did the same to Ryan.

"Knock it off," Gary said to Cormac in an alpha tone.

"You go that way," the unnamed boy said throwing Ryan by the collar in one direction, "and you go that way." He said that pointing in the direction that he expected Cormac to go in – it was the opposite direction as Ryan's path.

Hermione was still standing next to Naomi, "What just happened?"

"I'm not sure, but I think you're the shiny new plaything at camp." She responded.

There was an awkward tension among the group thanks to Cormac and Ryan's confrontation, and the feeling lingered on the group for fifteen minutes until everyone started ingesting copious amounts of alcohol to cool off.

Hermione was chatting with Nicky and the other unnamed head counselor of Camp Adventure, who seemed fine, when Hermione caught Cormac and Gary having a somewhat heated debate close to the Camp Craig storage barn. Gary was using his hands very animatedly, while Cormac seemed to care less about what he was being told. On the other side of the clearing by the Camp Adventure storage barn, it looked like the male Camp Adventure head counselor was having a similar conversation with Ryan.

It appeared like the end result of both conversations was that the leaders told their protégés to shake hands. They walked toward each over and slapped their hands together rather than shook, but it seemed good enough. Now that everything seemed to get on and everyone was on civil terms with one another, people went back to regular conversation. New comers to Camp Craig and Camp Adventure were getting to know one another, older counselors were bringing up stories of years passed, and Gary, Nicky and the unnamed lady head counselor of Camp Adventure were talking about Uni and the real world to come.

The other head counselor poked his head out of the Camp Adventure storage barn and shouted out, "Line 'em up." He was carrying a long folding table out of the storage unit.

People hooted and hollered in excitement. An area in the center of the circle of ladders and lights opened up. Another Camp Adventure counselor came out with a second table and the two of them lined the tables end to end, to create one extra-long surface.

"What are we doing?" Hermione pointed her question to Nicky.

"Just a friendly competition," Nicky said moving to one side of the table.

"What are the rules?" Hermione asked nervously.

"It's not difficult, just stand on that end and you will learn by the time it's your turn," Nicky told her.

Eighteen Camp Craig counselors stood on one side of the tables and the eighteen Camp Adventure staff members stood on the other side. Cups were placed in front of everyone, and cheap cans of beer were slid up and down the table.

Hermione was standing at the very end of the row of Camp Craig counselors. She was looking down the line for some indicator of what she should be doing. People were cracking open cans of beer and seemed to fill an undetermined amount of beer in the cup in front of them.

"Here you go," the voice immediately opposite Hermione said. As Hermione looked up, a can of beer was sliding in her direction.

"Thanks," Hermione said catching the beer before it slid off the table. She received the can from Ryan. "So what is it we are doing?" she was ashamed to ask.

On the opposite end of the tables, people were counting down, "Three. Two. One."

As the first team members started, Hermione had no idea what was going on. People were drinking from their cups and then throwing them around the table. And after what seemed like some uncertain amount of time, the next person would start drinking their beer.

"I have no idea what is happening," Hermione looked across to Ryan for help.

He quickly pointed the overview of the game to her.

"…and you and I are the anchors." He said finishing the explanation, "We go last. All the pressure is on us." He had his charming smile on.

"Wait, I don't want that," Hermione said with a little panic in her voice.

"That's a tough spot to be in, but it's too late. And it's unfortunate for you, because I don't lose." Ryan said with a note of confidence bordering on cockiness.

Hermione was a little disappointed, but mostly pleased to see that the Camp Adventure team had amassed a decent lead. If they lost as a team, no one could blame her. She looked down the line and it was Cormac's turn. He tipped the cup back to his lips and opened his throat to allow the golden liquid to just flow into his stomach. He placed the cup barely off the ledge of the table and with one finger flicked the cup so that instead of resting on the correct side, the cup was inverted on the table. That meant that it was Naomi's turn to go.

Camp Adventure had a two person lead as Naomi struggled to find the touch needed to flip her cup and get it to land correctly/incorrectly on the table in front of her. The Camp Adventure crew had run the entire length of the table and all eyes were on Ryan, but he didn't move.

His teammates started shouting at him to finish the game, but he just stood there.

"No," Hermione said pleading to him.

"It's a friendly competition, within a competition," Ryan said offering her a wink. That wink made Hermione's stomach even weaker.

By this point, the people at the other end of the super table had circled around to Hermione's end. Hermione was dreading making a fool of herself in front of everyone.

Haley was just finishing her drink, which meant that Hermione was next. Her teammates were cheering for Haley to finish and once she got her cup to land inverted on the table, Hermione grabbed her cup and started.

Ryan still didn't move. He waited for Hermione to finish her beer before he put the cup to his lips.

Hermione didn't know if it was through magic, some innate amount of skill, or sheer dumb luck, but on her first try she flicked the cup up and it teetered in a circle, until the cup rested where it was supposed to.

Ryan couldn't believe his eyes. He had lost the game for his whole team. With a look of disbelief, he put the edge of his cup off the side of the table and popped the bottom of his cup so it landed flush on the table upside down.

Ryan's teammates were livid with him, but after his look of shock he smiled back at Hermione and extended her a high-five.

"That'll teach me," he said so only she could hear him. He took his lickings from his fellow teammates, but didn't let that ruin his spirits.

"Again!" Gary shouted out.

This time all the members of Camp Adventure dragged Ryan away from the anchor position so he couldn't make another jackass mistake.

Everyone on the Camp Craig side pleaded that Hermione remained the anchor, but several others shuffled to different positions.

This time down the line, when it was Ryan's turn, he looked down the table and made eye contact with Hermione and didn't pull away from looking at her once. He didn't look away while he tipped his beer in his mouth, he didn't look away when he placed the cup on the edge of the table and he didn't look away when he tossed the cup upside down. Hermione smiled and shook her head at him in disbelief.

This time the Camp Adventure team rightfully won. Hermione didn't even get a chance, because it was such a blowout

"Rubber match," was the chant several different people shouted from the two lines. Again, another mass reshuffle ensued. Hermione was pulled away from her spot as anchor and fell into the middle of the Camp Craig pack.

This time, Hermione wasn't as lucky as her first attempt. As it turned out, it was only beginner's luck that got her through the pressured moment. It took her four tries until she found just the right touch to have her cup land upside down. Again, Camp Adventure walked away as the champions of the game, but the competition ended in good spirits.

"Go grab another table," the other large Head Counselor, whose name ironically was Junior, said to Ryan.

Gary pointed to two of his counselors and said, "Spread these out." People helped to clear off empty beer cans and cups so that the tables could be moved side by side.

Beer pong was a game Hermione had heard about and seen before, but she had never played it herself. People were eagerly finding teammates and were pairing up. The three tables that were out occupied twelve players at a time. But the game also occupied anyone that was self-proclaimed as "next", along with any other spectators.

Hermione was standing with an empty cup in her hand and was trying to understand the finer points of the games being played. Quietly, she allowed her analytical mind to try to comprehend the smaller nuances of the game. Most of the rules seemed to be made up as they went. People were running around trying to catch the table tennis balls before they fell on the ground, others were tossing the ball behind their back or under a leg, some people elected to bounce the ball and almost everyone was declaring a contradicting rule. It seemed like organized chaos.

"Can I get you a drink, Granger?" a voice to her right asked her.

She was going to accept Ryan's offer, but it wasn't Ryan.

She was quite glad that Cormac had offered her to walk for a drink.

"Sure," she said leading the way toward a cooler. She opened the lid and took out a purplish-pink drink with a twist off top. Cormac found a beer and used the bottle opener on the side of the cooler to get the top off.

"You have to tell me," Cormac started, "I've been watching you." Hermione was nervous of what the question was going to be.

"Yes?" she said hesitantly.

"Have you ever done any of this before?" he lifted his eyebrows at her.

"What do you mean?" she wasn't playing dumb, she just thought that there were several different things he could be referring to.

"The drinking and the partying," he said waving his hands all around him.

She was relieved he wasn't talking about anything else, "Truthfully," she lowered her voice, "No. Is it that obvious?"

"I think your performance in our first game covered your tracks pretty well," he said with a wink.

"No, that was all luck," she had to confess to him.

"I had a feeling, but you played it off so well," he gave her a teasing smile.

"Be quiet," Hermione said to him. He wasn't saying anything just smiling.

He made a motion with his hands like he was zipping his lips closed, but as he finished throwing the key away, his lips couldn't remain shut, because his teeth came through with a flawless smile. Hermione was getting used to his smile, and she had to admit that it was a very warming smile, but the way his eyes were looking at her made her stomach make a small jump.

Hermione reached up with her hand that wasn't holding her fruity drink and tried to push him away from her, "Don't make that face at me, Cormac."

"I can't help it. I only have this one face," he said taking her gently by the wrist. He attempted to remove her hand from his vicinity, but he didn't want to break the contact with her skin.

Their eyes locked together for a second.

"Who is up next?" Wayne shouted to the general public holding one of the ping pong balls up in the air.

"We are," Cormac said keeping Hermione's wrist and pulling her toward the table.

Cormac placed the cups in their designated positions while Hermione retrieved several fresh beers. They distributed the beers among the cups and were deemed ready to start.

"Winners shoot first," Naomi said taking one of the balls and hitting one of the edges of the cups before it rolled harmlessly on the table. Cormac snatched it up. Wayne lined up his shot and made one of the cups in the back corner. He held up his wrist in a taunting fashion.

"Good with his hands – right," Hermione said thinking about Wayne's strengths.

While the couple was celebrating Wayne's made shot, Cormac scooped up the cup, drank from it and while his head was tipped back drinking the liquid, he made his shot.

"Ah," he sounded, appreciating the beer but also his shot. Cormac held up his hand awaiting a high-five, but Hermione was too focused on her shot. It didn't do her any good, because she threw the ball so hard it hit Wayne in the chest.

"It's because you failed to respect the high-five," Cormac said still holding his hand up, "I refuse to put this down until you acknowledge it."

Hermione slapped his hand without much enthusiasm, but toward the end of the game the pair of them had developed their own secret high-five ceremony anytime either of them made a shot. Granted, they only celebrated Cormac's made shots, because those were the only ones that went in.

The game ended when Naomi made the last cup. She also had a long cold streak, before making the last cup. Defeated, Cormac and Hermione left the table for Wayne and Naomi's next victims.

"I could use another drink," Hermione said, she was feeling looser and freer.

"Let's get you a water," Cormac suggested.

"No. I want another one of these," Hermione said pointing to the drink in her hand.

"We can get one more of those after a water," Cormac tried to promise her.

"But I don't want water," she argued.

"You'll thank me in the morning," Cormac promised her, getting to one of the coolers and taking out two bottle of water, "You finish this one and I'll finish this one."

Again, Cormac just opened his throat and finished the whole bottle, but it wasn't as easy for him as the beer, not because he was an alcoholic that craved beer, but because his stomach was too full. Hermione had to take many more sips than he. Once Hermione had finally finished hers, Cormac couldn't hold his urge any longer.

"I need to pee," he was doing a little dance, "Are you going to be ok here?"

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked him rhetorically.

"Ok, I'll be back in a bit," Cormac went at a pace fast enough for him to get to the woods, but also didn't put too much stress on his bladder.

Like a hawk, Ryan showed up holding out an extra cup for Hermione, "For you."

It looked like the red concoction out of the large water jug. Hermione had been eyeing the spot periodically throughout the night, and more people were venturing out to try the mystical red potion.

"Thank you," Hermione said looking at it and taking a sip. She was expecting something much worse. Cormac made this sound like a horrible drink. In her opinion, it went down like juice. Hermione and Ryan started a conversation about Ryan's first year of being a counselor at Camp Adventure.

"Hey," Cormac said jogging back to Hermione. He could see who she was talking to and he was already feeling uncomfortable, but he became almost irate when he saw what Hermione was holding, "What's that?"

"Ryan got it for me," she told him taking a long sip of her drink.

Cormac stared at Ryan with a look of loathing, but directed his question at Hermione, "Are you sure you want to be drinking that?"

"It's fine, Cormac, Ryan has one too, and I feel fine." She wasn't lying. She didn't feel any different, but she wouldn't feel any different for a short while.

Cormac was experiencing a serious internal dilemma. He was feeling very protective of Hermione, but he really didn't have a right to feel so defensive. He tried to remain level headed, something he wasn't known for, "Well, Hermione, I think Ryan can drink a little more than you can." He took a slow exhale to keep himself from getting mad.

Ryan was watching on with anticipation to see what Hermione's reaction would be. Hermione seemed to be in the middle of this game of tug-o-war between the two boys. Neither of them had done anything to wrong her, so she didn't know who to side with.

"She can make her own decision, McLaggen," Ryan said making his opinion know.

"I agree. So she doesn't need any of your 'help', Craig," Cormac said. Their body language made it apparent that they were looking for trouble.

Again, Gary and Junior swept to the rescue. But this time Junior grabbed Cormac and Gary grabbed Ryan. This time it wasn't a matter of grabbing them by the back of the collar. Each of the head counselors grabbed both the boys by the front of their shirts and pushed them back several feet.

"Last warning, both of you," Junior said in an annoyed growl.

"Go take a walk to cool off," Gary said to Ryan.

"I don't need to cool off," he said trying to fight out of Gary's grip.

Gary thrusted his arms out causing Ryan to stumble over his feet, but he maintained his balance, "that was me 'asking nicely.'"

Ryan sounded like he said something along the lines of "fuck you," but no one could really hear. Even though he was understandably mad, he turned and headed away from the party.

Junior also released Cormac, but he wasn't free long before Gary came over and cuffed him behind the neck and took him for a short walk too.

By this point Nicky had come over to where Hermione was, "These boys are going to get you in trouble." She looked down at Hermione's drink and there was barely any left, but she took it from her, "you don't want to be drinking this shit." She threw the contents of the cup on the ground.

Junior came back toward the crowd and some people seemed to be scared to get in his way. He wasn't very tall, but very wide of shoulder. In the most jovial tone he could put on, he said, "Someone change the music, and let's line 'em up."

Someone ran over to the radio and pushed a few buttons and spun a few knobs and a different station came on. A few boys had moved the tables to create the super table again. Because Ryan was missing from Camp Adventure, and Cormac and Gary were missing from Camp Craig, one member of Camp Craig had to go twice.

Camp Adventure was again victorious after they went down the line, and by this time Gary and Cormac had returned. People were setting up for another round, and Hermione, unbeknown to her, was beginning to feel the effects of her mysterious red drink. She ran over to Cormac to see how he was doing.

Before she even had the chance to open her mouth, Cormac held up his hand and spoke, "Hermione, I'm sorry, but Gary made me promise that I wouldn't talk to you for the rest of the night. It's just going to stir up bad blood between me and him." Of course, he meant Ryan.

Hermione's excitement seemed to deflate.

"But by my watch," he looked at his wrist, "there's only another twenty minutes until midnight." He winked at her and headed to the back of the line for the Camp Craigers.

**A/N: [Insert generic Post-Chapter Author's Note here]**

**jrb2009**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey everyone, sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I'm experiencing some writers block, but I have some time set aside for writing so that should help. If you guys have any ideas for how this story should move, I would love to hear them!**

**Chapter 10**

After his twenty minute suspension, Cormac made sure to find Hermione. "Meet me in the storage barn in a bit," it wasn't a suggestion.

Hermione smiled at him in passing and nodded her agreement. Normally, Hermione would never put herself in that position, but she was feeling extra adventurous that night. She grabbed herself another purply-pink drink out of the coolers and snuck away to the Camp Craig storage barn.

Hermione couldn't be certain, but she was pretty sure there was a couple making out in the farthest corner of the empty space. Hermione crossed passed the doors and stepped into the darkened building. Hands immediately grabbed onto her.

She squeaked in surprise. Again, Cormac put his hands on the waistband of Hermione's shorts. His thumbs slipped between the denim of her shorts and the delicates closest to her.

She pushed him from his chest, "Cormac, don't touch me like that." She stepped away from him, but didn't tell him to 'Go to hell', instead she stayed. She had the opportunity to storm out, but she didn't take it.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said giving her the same look with his eyes from earlier.

Hermione liked it better when he used her given name rather than her last name, but the look he was giving her was stirring something in her, "Don't make that face at me!"

"Why not?" he asked stepping closer to her, reaching out with his hands.

"It makes me uncomfortable," she said breaking eye contact with him.

"I'm sorry," he said letting the lust fade from his eyes as soon as she looked away.

They stood in silence for a second, before Cormac spoke.

"Come here," he said extending a hand out for her to take.

Hermione allowed him to lead her to one of the ladders that led to the second level of the storage barn.

"Ladies first," Cormac said assisting her on the ladder.

"Don't try to look up my shorts or anything," Hermione said staring down at him.

"I swear I won't," he said making a half-assed sign of the cross, "I'm only here to catch you if you slip." That he genuinely meant.

Once Hermione's feet were through the small opening, Cormac began his ascent and was next to Hermione in no time.

Hermione had no problem with heights, but being in a strange place with limited light made her uneasy up there.

"It's ok," Cormac said taking her by the hand again. Slowly so that she was comfortable, he took her toward the edge of the "track" that surrounded the entire floor. He sat down and assisted her to sit next to him with their legs dangling over the edge.

Cormac looked Hermione's way and smiled before he took a sip of his beer. Hermione mimicked him and took a sip herself.

"So tell me what's the deal with you and Ryan," Hermione said turning her torso to better look at Cormac.

Cormac reached behind Hermione's back and grabbed her waistband and pulled her back onto the ledge. As she turned her torso, she moved a little too close off the edge for Cormac's liking, "that's better."

"You ignored my question," she pointed out.

"Right, Ryan Craig and me. Where to start?" he seemed to be wracking his brain, "Honestly, it's more childish than anything. The main culprit would be years ago all the different Camp Cups we were competing for."

"Some silly, inter-camp competition?" Hermione didn't believe that was the whole story.

"Well, that's where it started," he continued to explain, "He was a camper for all eight weeks at Camp Adventure – obviously, his mom and dad run that camp. So when I would come for one week, we would always be neck and neck competing for the Camp Cup. We are both extremely competitive to a fault. And there was bad blood there from the beginning. And last year was my first year as a counselor, and that rivalry was amplified. I'm surprised you never noticed during any of the Camp Cup challenges."

Hermione wouldn't have noticed because she was never interested in the athletic competitions of the Camp Cup. She was always interacting in the more cerebral challenges.

"Anyways, that added on to some other differences of opinion," he said cryptically, "and that led us to be on even worse terms."

Hermione thought about his words.

"And now throw is a cute brunette into the mix and it's not going to make things any easier," Cormac couldn't see, but he made Hermione blush.

She brushed a strand of hair to her side and smiled. That was all the invitation that Cormac needed. In a swift, but controlled move, he climbed on top of her delicately. Hermione's hands were caught between their bodies, because she didn't know what to do with them. Hermione was caught surprised. She had never had a boy make a move like this before.

She was lying flat on her back, and Cormac came up to kiss her on the forehead, before he came down to her lips. Somehow Cormac knew exactly how she wanted to be kissed. As Hermione began appreciating exactly how he was kissing her, she realized that she WANTED Cormac to kiss her. Hermione's mind started racing, wondering where the night was going to take her and Cormac, but all of a sudden, she arched her back and almost screamed in pain.

"AH!" she said trying to get the right stretch to relieve what was in her back.

Cormac immediately jumped off of her, "I'm so sorry." He hadn't done anything; Hermione was just having some sort of reaction.

"OW! Make it stop," she said pushing on her lower back hoping that would relieve the pain.

"What's happening?" Cormac said kneeling down beside the girl twisted on the track floor.

"I don't know," she said wincing in excruciating pain.

Cormac slid closer to her and took one of her hands in his, and tried to rub the pain away on her back, "It'll be ok." He told her.

Hermione groaned again, but the pain was subsiding. It was still present, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was when it first came on. The worst of it lasted about two minutes.

She was scared to move, but Cormac convinced her that sitting up may help. It didn't help, but it didn't make it hurt worse. The dull pain ached. She was no longer interested in anything. She secretly hoped that this wouldn't turn Cormac off her for the short term.

"What can I do?" Cormac asked still concerned.

"I don't know. Let's get down from here while I can," she said slowly stepping toward the ladder.

Cormac went down first just in case he needed to catch her, and thankfully he didn't need to. Hermione moved slowly and Cormac offered to help her walk, but she didn't want anyone to see her needing to be carried.

"You wait here," Cormac instructed her. They were already close to the path that led back to camp. He didn't want to see her struggle to the center of the clearing to just go back in the same direction they came.

Cormac ran over to Naomi and tapped her on the arm, "Hey, Hermione isn't feeling well. So I'm going to walk her back to camp - just in case anyone is looking for us."

"Hermione?" she looked around and headed toward her friend. Wayne followed.

"Do you want us to go with you?" Naomi's offer was sincere.

"No, you guys stay and have fun," Hermione said to her.

"We don't want you to walk back by yourself," Naomi said looking at her with a little worry. Hermione wasn't standing exactly straight up.

"It's ok. Cormac is going to walk with me," she said looking around for him. The handsome boy was trotting back in their direction.

"What's wrong? Do you feel sick?" Naomi whispered the second part.

"No. It's not like that." She said truthfully, "It's this weird thing in my back."

"I swear to god, that happens to me sometimes when I drink bad liquor," Naomi confessed.

"I shouldn't have had that red drink," Hermione said pushing on her lower back.

"This will help flush it out of you," Cormac said bringing her another bottle of water.

"Ok, you guys go back and enjoy the night. I'm just going to crawl in bed." Hermione said as a small wave of pain came over her.

"Ok, feel better, Hermione," Wayne started, "we will check on you in the morning."

"Good night, guys," Cormac said turning to head toward the path.

The walk seemed to help Hermione. With the idea of a destination in mind, she could keep her thoughts off the pain. Twice on the long walk, Hermione had to stop when another wave of pain came over her. Cormac did his best to help her get through it. He held her hand and tried to rub the pain away, but the pain was too internal for him to reach.

As they crossed over Lower Bridge, Hermione could feel one of the debilitating waves of pain coming on. Hermione hadn't been in the mood to drink the water that Cormac had brought for her, but asked for the bottle hoping that if she put some water in her system it would halt the coming wave of pain. She was able to put down half the water while they reached the fire pit, until the pain became too much.

She doubled over at the knees and winced. She couldn't imagine how she looked to Cormac.

"Hermione, can I do anything?" he looked so defeated standing there helplessly.

"No. I don't know," she said still bent over.

"Can I carry you?" he offered.

"I don't think that'll help," she was catching her breath from dealing with the pain.

"Alright let's get you to your cabin," Cormac started, "just a little farther."

They made it up the steps to Hermione's front door, and Cormac held the door so that she could get in. Hermione walked into the room and flopped onto her bed. The dull pain was still there, but being on a bed tricked her mind into think she felt better.

"All better?" Cormac asked concerned. He was walking around her cabin picking up the pair of pants that she had deemed sleep appropriate.

"No. But a little bit better," she sighed out.

"Can you dress yourself?" Cormac offered.

"I'm not paralyzed, Cormac," she said back to him.

"You sound like you're in some serious pain," he said while he tossed the pants to her.

"Turn around," Cormac did as he was told.

As quickly as she could, she slid out of her jean shorts and put on her sleep bottoms. With Cormac facing the wall, she took all her tops off and tossed them on the floor, overshirt, undershirt, and bra.

"Can you get me a t shirt out of the top drawer?" Hermione asked him, "And stay turned around."

Still facing the wall, he side stepped toward the dresser. He didn't open the top drawer, but bent down to the floor. He picked up a baby blue sweater that was crumpled on her floor. He reached backwards while being the gentleman and not peeking and handed his sweater to her.

Hermione smiled, "Two nights in a row?"

"Why not?" Cormac said toward the wall.

Hermione pulled Cormac's sweater over her head, "Ok. You can turn around."

"Are you all ready for bed?" Cormac asked circling toward the door.

Hermione was crawling under the covers, "I think so."

Cormac placed the half-full water bottle on Hermione's bedside table, and went to turn the lights off. As he opened the door to head back to his cabin, Hermione went into another fit.

She let out a serious whine of pain.

Cormac crawled onto her bed, and in the dark found her hand to try to calm her back down. After another couple of minutes of fighting off the pain, Hermione's breathing eased. Hermione was so grateful that Cormac was there to help her. This had never happened to her and she was scared that something was seriously wrong with her.

"Thank you so much, Cormac," she said panting after dealing with that last fit of pain.

"It's no problem," he began to shift his weight to get off the bed, but Hermione trapped his hand.

"Please don't go," she pleaded, "I'm a little scared."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Please," he could only imagine how cute she looked with a pout in the dark.

"Sure," he said softly. He kicked his shoes off and brought his feet up on the bed. He stayed on top of the covers and rested his upper back and head against the wood frame of the bed. He extended an arm toward Hermione and she gravitated in his direction.

Hermione had just really gotten to know this boy two days – maybe three days, depending how literally she counted – ago. He had given her one kiss, that was rudely interrupted, and now she was in bed with him – granted he was on top of the covers and she may or may not be on her death bed – but there was no way that she could deny that she wasn't already trying new things that summer.

"Oh, you should finish this water before we forget," Cormac said reaching to his right and grabbing the bottle. He untwisted the top and forced Hermione to sit up, "I know you don't want it, but hopefully, you'll thank me in the morning."

Hermione forced it down, declared that she needed to pee - after the words escaped her mouth she knew she was more drunk than she thought - and headed to the bathroom. She peed, washed her hands, brushed her teeth and came back to bed. Cormac was sitting exactly where she left him.

It seemed that the pain had run its course. Hermione slid back under the sheets and accepted Cormac's outstretched arm. She propped her head up partially on his shoulder and his bicep. Her left arm rested on his clothed chest, because it felt natural, not due to some secret connection that she and Cormac had, but because it was most comfortable for it to rest there.

Cormac's left arm tightened around her and his right hand took hers in his. He tried to idly rub her lower back with his left hand, because secretly he was trying to see if it would elicit a reaction from her, but Hermione didn't know what to do.

Cormac moved his head in a motion that made it seem like he was trying to nuzzle against the top of Hermione's head. Under her body, she could feel him trying to rock his body. Thinking that she needed to do something, she used the tips of her fingers to lightly scratch against the shirt against his chest.

Cormac had an internal struggle with himself. He was certain that he wasn't his drunkest. He was just feeling more confident. Confidence was Cormac's bread and butter. With his left arm, he pulled Hermione higher up on his chest. To assist herself to climb higher, instead of using her fingertips on his chest, she placed her palm down and pushed herself toward him as he pulled her in his direction.

Hermione looked up to Cormac and he looked down to her. From the position they were in, it didn't take a lot of effort for their lips to connect.

For a moment, their kisses seemed tame. Slowly, the pair of them nuzzled noses while their lips moved together. In a building sequence as their lips parted, they would come back together harder. Cormac reached up with his right hand and held Hermione's face. At the same time, he began to slide from under her head. He was working himself so he could be on top of her.

Scared to jostle her too quickly, he waited until her head was supported on one of the pillows. Before he made a more aggressive move, he removed his kisses from her lips and placed one on her cheek. Cormac was able to see her smile from the combination of light from the moon and solar lights outside.

He moved his left hand behind Hermione's head, brought his right hand to her cheek and swung his weight on top of her. Cormac flicked his tongue against her lips and she got the message.

Somewhat clumsily, Hermione used her tongue to play back with Cormac's. Not long after, she relaxed and used her tongue to dance with his in a synchronized rhythm. Just as Hermione began to understand what she needed to do with her tongue, Cormac again pulled away from her lips. He kissed her on her cheek and on her forehead before he whispered to her, "Are you ok?" he was not referring to her back.

Again, Cormac could see her reaction in the combination of dim lights. She didn't speak, but she bit her lip and nodded.

Cormac gently began placing kisses on the soft skin where her jaw ended and her neck began. Hermione thought she was going to explode from the sensation of being tickled, but once Cormac reached up and stroked her opposite cheek, she relaxed and wished he would never stop.

Hermione's hands were gripping onto the hem of Cormac's shirt as wave after wave of unexplainable desire ran over her.

Hermione had never been kissed like this before. It was true that she was guilty of snogging Viktor Krum, but that was different. Viktor seemed clunky and uncoordinated compared to Cormac. Every one of his movements seemed to have a purpose. And each little movement drove her wild.

Cormac pulled away from her neck, and went back to Hermione lips, where they allowed their tongues to flick against one another. To prove Cormac's coordination during their kissing, he was able to remove the bed coverings from between them without Hermione even noticing. Cormac gripped onto the sweater that Hermione was wearing and slid his hand under the fabric. He rested his hand on her flat torso and gripped into the skin over her stomach. Hermione thought it was a good time to start mimicking him. She reached out and almost gasped when she felt the hard ridges of Cormac's abs.

Cormac's gentle caresses slowly approached higher and higher up Hermione's torso. Hermione's sweater was hiked up completely exposing her stomach. Cormac pulled away from her and started placing soft kisses on her newly exposed skin. He moved his left hand into one of her hands, and his other hand continued to trace small circles on the skin highest on her ribs. His thumb idly brushed against the flesh he was most excited to get his hands on.

In his mind, he was thinking to himself, "Thank god we are drunk; otherwise, she would never agree to this." Between kisses on her torso, he stopped. With both his hands, he pulled her sweater back down where it belonged.

Hermione was confused by what was happening. She had never gone this far with a boy before, but she was pretty certain more skin was supposed to be exposed, not re-covered. Cormac placed his hands on her shoulder and crawled back up to face her. He kissed her lips, then her cheek, then her forehead. His forehead kiss lasted longer than the other two and he breathed in her hair.

"What did I do?" Hermione asked, thinking that she had done something wrong.

"Nothing. You've been perfect," he responded crawling off the top of her and assuming the same position he was in before their heated kissing.

"Then why did you stop?" she felt her confidence deflating.

Cormac pulled the covers back over Hermione and settled himself against the headboard again. He extended his left arm toward Hermione again. She paused for a second before she slowly brought herself back to rest on his shoulder and arm.

"I didn't think it was the right time for any of that," Cormac said reassuring her that she didn't do anything wrong. To help reassure her, he took her hand in his. Cormac quickly leaned over and kissed the top of her head and breathed in the smell that he had grown to like, "Get some sleep, Hermione."

It took her longer than normal to fall asleep, because her blood was rushing through her veins, but once she was asleep, she never slept sounder.

**A/N: Let me know what you think! I'm sorry it had to cut short, but I didn't think it would be in Hermione's nature to move much further with Cormac in one night without her resenting him. I know that this is technically "MY World" that I'm writing, but Ms. Rowling did such a stellar job creating these characters I want to keep them as pristine as possible. With that being said, some more smut to come!**

**jrb2009**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry to repost this chapter! This may be annoying for those that subscribe to it. I found an error that I needed to switch. To apologize I will post the next chapter tonight!**

**A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry it's been a week since I've updated. I've been on vacation, but the good news is that I have a lot of chapters saved up that can be uploaded! So enjoy this one and let me know what you think and I can unveil the next chapter once this one has gotten enough reader traffic.**

**Chapter 11**

Hermione rolled over in her dark cabin and was pleased to feel Cormac's steady breathing next to her. She nuzzled against his shoulder and arm to get comfortable again. She released his hand and gripped across his waist this time.

She immediately regretted doing that, because she had stirred him awake.

"Hey, there," he said groggily.

"Hi," she responded kissing his outer jacket that was still on.

He picked up his arm that was around her, and stroked her hair once, before placing it back where it was most comfortable. He closed his eyes again and most likely he would remember the interaction as a dream.

With his eyes closed, Cormac whispered, "Good night, Granger."

Hermione smiled for one last moment before she fell back asleep.

The next time Hermione opened her eyes the sun was peeking over the tops of the Lady Otter's cabin and the sun could now reach Hermione's cabin.

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and opened them. She had a mild headache, but she was certain it would be gone in a few hours. She thought it would be best to begin rehydrating her body. She picked up the bottle of water that was on her bed side table and took it to the bathroom. She ran the tap and filled the bottle. She started drinking and then realized that Cormac was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "That gigantic ass!" she shouted in her room. She stood in silence for a second and then half shrieked.

He had made her feel like she was special, and then ran out the next morning. It appeared he was just like all other boys.

Without bothering to change, Hermione strutted out her door. If she had taken the time to examine her clock - it read, 10:45. Hermione walked to the fork between the Otter counselor cabins and the Hare counselor cabins. She walked passed the Lady Hare cabin and made her way to Cormac's.

"Cormac!" she shouted slamming on his door.

There was no response.

"Cormac McLaggen!" she banged on the door with her whole fist.

Still there was nothing.

"CORMAC fucking MCLAGGEN," she didn't want to shout the swear word, but it was loud enough that if he were woken up from her banging, he would get the message.

"What?" his voice came.

It wasn't from the other side of the door, but it came from behind her.

Hermione spun on her bare heels. Cormac was looking at her and he shrugged waiting for her to continue. He was standing shirtless, in a pair of shorts and running shoes. He was dripping wet.

"I…" she hadn't thought passed her plan other than confronting him at the door. Now that he wasn't in his cabin, she was thrown off, "Why are you so wet." She stated that like she was ready to say the word "Checkmate" right after.

"I went for a run around the lake," he said walking toward her, using his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face.

"Well, where did you go this morning," she said accusingly.

"Hermione, it's not like that," he said once he realized what he was being interrogated for. He reached for her waist so he could kiss the top of her head.

"Don't touch me," she said holding a hand up at him, "you don't get to touch me."

"It's not like that, Hermione," he said again walking backwards toward the steps that led to his small porch.

She made a look at him that said, "Well, go on."

"You're really going to make me say it?" he reached back for the handrail and took the first step while going backwards.

Hermione stood there with her arms crossed. Apparently, she was very patient.

"Fine. When I woke up, you were sound asleep. I was torn, because I wanted to get my hands all over you, but I felt guilty. I felt guilty because I didn't want to wake you up. And I felt guilty because I wasn't sure if you would remember everything that happened last night." He was interrupted.

"Of course, I remember everything," she said like she was speaking to an idiot. Which was easy, because she felt that Cormac was an idiot.

"I didn't want to ditch you, but you were just lying there. So as quietly as I could, I placed your head on a pillow and got out of bed," just as she thought! He could see that she was getting mad, "I told you, it's not like that. Last night, you got me all riled up. I needed an outlet, so I went for a run. I run a lot and it helps me sweat out the alcohol when I drink."

Hermione stood there unsure if she should believe him or not. Of course, his story made sense, but was the "It's not like that," part true?

"I had a really nice night with you," Cormac confessed, coming back down off the one step that he was on. This time when he reached out for her waist, she didn't slap him away. He pulled her into his body for a long hug.

"GUHHH," she groaned. Cormac was still dripping wet from sweat. She pressed away from him. Cormac started laughing.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but are we passed that?"

"No!" she said trying to wipe his sweat from her face and off her clothes before it set in.

"At least, it's my sweater," he said looking down at her.

"If I ever give it back to you," she told him, "it's starting to grow on me.

"You look good in it," he loved seeing the baggy fit on her and the oversized sleeves. He changed the subject, "I'm going to shower and I can come get you for lunch," he suggested, "unless you're interested in joining me." He had that same look in his eyes.

"Watch it," Hermione said narrowing her eyes. Her look was much less threatening than what she was intending.

He laughed at her attempt at intimidation, "I'll see you in a bit." He turned and walked into his cabin.

Hermione walked back down the path and as she reached the turning point to head to her cabin, she ran into Naomi and Wayne. Hermione could only imagine what she looked like. She still had on pajamas, her hair must've looked like a wild mess, and she was heading away from Cormac's cabin.

Naomi opened her eyes wide to speak, but Hermione held up her hand.

"No."

"Seriously?" she said taking a disapproving stance.

"No." Hermione repeated.

"Hermione!?"

"No." she said turning the corner and heading to her cabin, the couple followed her.

The trio stepped into Hermione's room and Naomi collapsed on the bed. She and Wayne were already dressed for the first day of camp. They had on shorts, athletic shoes and their purple staff shirts on.

"Let me shower and then we can head over to get lunch," Hermione said rummaging through her dresser until she had all the pieces that made an outfit. She took all the articles of clothing with her to her very small bathroom, closed the door, and again, hoped there was some hot water left.

She got out of the shower and began to towel off. Once dry, she started putting on her layers. She stepped out of the bathroom and steam escaped with her.

She was pulling her hair back behind her neck as she stepped out. When she looked out, Naomi and Wayne were lounging on her bed and Cormac was standing in the open doorway.

"Then, I dropped her off, made sure that she got in bed ok, and said goodnight." Cormac was finishing lying to Naomi about how the night before played out.

"But why was she leaving your cabin this morning?" Naomi was very interested. Wayne couldn't care either way. He was tossing a tennis ball up in the air and catching it.

"She came over to yell at me," Cormac said truthfully now.

"For what?" Naomi asked with her eyes cocked.

"Come on, Naomi, you know I've screwed up too many times to really remember what I was being yelled at for," Cormac's cool response seemed acceptable.

Hermione reached the bedside table closest to Wayne and on the surface there was a stray hair tie. Hermione slung her hair in a ponytail and ended the interrogation.

"Are we ready to get food?" she said facing the door.

Hermione approached the doorway that Cormac was occupying. The door was left open and a nice summer breeze was rolling in. Cormac was standing wearing the same purple shirt. His hands were above his head resting on the door frame.

"Hey, Granger," Cormac said with a slight smile sweeping over his face.

"Hey," she said getting close to him. By this point, Naomi and Wayne were on their feet following them out the door.

Cormac retracted his arms and stepped aside so that they could exit the cabin. As Hermione walked through the invisible veil that he was previously standing in, she caught a hint of his scent and he smelled perfect.

As a foursome, they headed toward the cafeteria. Again the caters were providing hot food. There were counselors scattered at different tables around the dining hall and Cormac, Hermione, Naomi and Wayne settled on their own table. Cormac and Wayne struck up a conversation, and Hermione and Naomi were quietly conversing about the party from the night before.

"I had no idea that was a thing," Naomi said remembering her first glance at the setup from the night before.

"I know it was crazy. There was so much to drink, and tables and games and just," she paused, "craziness."

"I guess when we throw a party we _throw a party_," Naomi said before the pair of girls went into more detail.

As Naomi was filling Hermione in on what happened after she left with Cormac, Nicky came and slid down next to the girls.

"Are we talking about drama?" Nicky said quietly to the girls, but while looking in Cormac's direction.

"You're just as bad as her," Hermione said poking her thumb in Naomi's direction.

"Well, a girl can only wonder," Nicky said looking back to Hermione, "You guys did leave together."

"It wasn't like that," Hermione then went to explain the strange back pains that came on and her reason for needing to leave early.

"I know exactly what you're talking about! I think it's something to do with all the different things mixed in that red drink. I keep telling Camp Adventure to stop, bringing it, but they say it's part of tradition," Nicky just shrugged her shoulders, "If I can suggest, don't get into the habit of drinking out of that cooler."

"Nicky, do those parties happen often?" Naomi asked.

"Yeah we try to have them every weekend, but of course sometimes plans fall through, or weather. It also depends on how high tensions with us and Camp Adventure are, mostly depending on the Camp Cup," she explained.

"If we win or lose a close Camp Cup, we may not have those parties?" Naomi asked.

"No, that's when we need it most of all! We need to have a chance to get out our frustrations and let some steam off," Nicky told them.

Hermione and Naomi thought about her words and tried to make sense of them. All the counselors hung around the cafeteria until a few minutes before eleven-thirty. Almost precisely at the appointed time, they arrived at the first few rows of the amphitheater. Mr. and Mrs. Craig were again down from the stage and began addressing the counselors.

"I don't know about you, but I am excited," Mr. Craig wasn't just saying this to try to rally his troops. This camp was truly his life's work and nothing made him happier than when camp was in session, "Mrs. Craig is handing out camp rosters, so here are all the campers and which cabins they belong in. There are two lists: one is alphabetical by camper, and the other is by cabin." The rest of the camp director's words were lost, because everyone started eyeing the rosters up and down.

"Nooo," Eric whined, "I have the Morris kid in my cabin. The kids still wets the bed, I bet."

"But I have the Lowrie twins, and they always are 'hurt,'" Ross said, looking down at the Otter's cabin roster.

"Hannah Glover is allergic to everything!" Veronica Fonte, the counselor of the Lady Beavers said.

"I beat all of you," Cormac said, "I have Blake Neil. And he doesn't shower. Oh, but I got Dayton Ward back!" He gave himself a congratulatory fist pump in the air.

Hermione looked up and down her list and recognized very few names. More or less they were names that she knew in passing, but never spent the majority of her one week session with them. In her cabin, there were no girls' names that she recognized.

"Ok, also, here are your schedules, based on popularity of enrollment into different activities," Mr. Craig said holding the papers in the air. This regained everyone's attention momentarily, "quick side note – these are subject to change by week, and in some cases daily, it's all based on what the campers want." He started calling out names and handing out the eighteen sheets of paper, "On the back is your schedule for working the camp store, night rounds and things like that."

Hermione looked up and down her schedule and appeared to have an incredible schedule. It wouldn't have been much different than if she was a camper. On the sheet of paper, it had the days broken up into cells and for each of the six different activities of the day there was the name of the activity and the counselors that would be joining her. The order of her six sessions was: swimming in the lake/lifeguarding/fishing, Arts and Crafts, "Academic Building", "Academic Building", tennis, and cooking.

Throughout the day she would be spending her time with Eric near the lake; Naomi and Bri in the Arts and Crafts building;, Ross and Haley in the Academic Building; followed by Nicky in the Academic Building after lunch; Cormac at the tennis courts; and Naomi for cooking lessons.

She was disappointed to see that both slots of free time – a half hour before and an hour after dinner – were spent working/chaperoning the camp store, but she understood that she was at the bottom of the totem pole and had to work her way from the bottom.

"Ok, everyone, we need some people to get on the buses to meet the kids at the station. Others need to stay here for kids that are going to be driven in by their parents, and we need some people that need to stay back and help organize the campers' welcome packets," Mrs. Craig said. It was one of the first times Hermione had heard her voice since she was at camp.

People immediately started volunteering for what their preferred task would be. Most wanted to be responsible for heading to the train station, because that was where most of the arriving campers would be. Second most popular was the option to meet campers that were being dropped off in the traffic circle, and the least desired option was stacking folders and preparing for the arrival of all the newcomers.

Again, Hermione reserved herself as one of the lowest staff members. She elected to stay behind and organize welcome packets with Mrs. Craig.

She was surprised when Cormac elected to stay behind with her.

"I thought you would want to be the first thing that the campers would want to see," Hermione said when she saw him approach her.

"Eh, I can have them wait a little longer," he told her. Hermione felt like he wasn't completely telling the truth.

Cormac, Hermione and the Lady Hornets' counselor, Sam Townsend, were the ones that were responsible for being left behind, while everyone else took off to wait for the earliest arrivals. Since everyone else was going to be meeting the campers, the three of them began organizing the campers' welcome packets.

The piles were already lined up in alphabetical order, but they needed to break up the pile of about 150 folders into eighteen boxes. After they were filed in the appropriate boxes, it was Cormac's duty to maneuver them slightly offstage.

The task took only fifteen minutes, and by Hermione's watch it was 11:55AM. The last trains would be arriving soon, and the campers would be piling into the buses to head for camp. At the same time, Hermione could start to hear distant noises of numbers of children coming from the front of camp. There must've been a few early arrivals, dropped off by parents waiting to be escorted to the amphitheater once all the arrivals showed up.

All of a sudden, Hermione had a sense of nervousness rush over her. She was looking off in the direction of where the noise of the assembling campers was coming from. She must've made some sort of face that showed her true feelings.

"Hey, you ok?" Cormac said approaching her from behind as if he didn't want to startle her. As she turned her neck to look at him, he extended his arm out and gently cradled her lower back with his hand.

"Yeah, I just got a little nervous, and now I'm starting to second guess myself," she said truthfully.

"Yeah? What do you mean?" he was very cool with his tone and confident.

"I'm just nervous that I won't do a good job, or the kids won't like me. I don't like failure," she told him.

"Nothing in this world can prepare you for one hundred and fifty kids, and a lot of this stuff, you seem to learn on the job," again he seemed very certain of the words he was using, "but you're a likable girl. You're smart. Mr. and Mrs. Craig wouldn't've hired you if they didn't think you could do the work. And you have the team of counselors to help you if you don't know what to do. You'll be great." That was exactly what Hermione needed to hear.

"Thanks, Cormac," she said looking into his face for only a second, before his handsomeness required her to shy away, "that's really nice of you to say."

"I meant every word of it," he reassured her.

Hermione paused for a second and realized that he still had his hand resting on her, "How come you're being so nice to me?"

He was taken back by the question and dropped his hand from her, "Well," he had to think of the best way to articulate, "I don't want to say 'I like you', because I hardly know you, but from the little bit I know so far – I like you."

"Do you mean that?" she asked him.

Cormac nodded his head once while holding his hand up in the air to represent being sworn in.

She smiled at him this time and she didn't look away. She was looking up to his face. He was smiling down at her. This was the first time Hermione appreciated how tall the boy was. Her forehead roughly came to his chin.

Hermione's mind was racing. She was trying to think of something clever or witty to say, but Cormac's smile was leaving her brain useless. She was taken by surprise because it looked like Cormac was leaning closer toward her. She never learned the intention of his lean, because Sam pointed from her position shifting the boxes in a perfect line.

"Here they come," she said as the crowd of counselors that were sent to the front of the camp traffic circle came back with anywhere from thirty to fifty children with them. They were beginning to be shuffled into the rows of the amphitheater seats as Cormac and Hermione took one step apart.

"Ready for this?" he said waving out to some of the newly arrived campers.

**A/N: Let me know your thoughts and I'll throw up the next chapter :)**

**jrb2009**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: First to answer a few questions:**

**woofwolf: Yes, that was jungle juice, and yes? that back pain is a real thing. I'm not a doctor. I'm just a lowly business consultant/fanfiction writer and i have experienced something like that before and have a few friends. I've actually self-diagnosed myself with some nasty shit (all based on WebMD, but based on WebMD we are all dying).**

**And looking back that seems like the only question...**

**Second, I apologize to anyone that got a notification that a new chapter was posted this afternoon, and found that they already read Chapter 11. I promise this is a real update :)**

**To make it up to anyone that I fooled, I am going to do my best to upload one chapter everyday through the weekend! Do your best to keep me motivated to write! Read and review.**

**Chapter 12**

Hermione did her best to be as receptive and welcoming to the first series of campers as possible. She tried to think back and understand what it was like when she was sitting out on the benches looking onto the stage. Hermione recalled how refreshing it was seeing all the amiable faces of the counselors smiling back, waving, and having an entire air that seemed inviting.

Cormac was no longer standing on the stage next to Hermione, but was seated with his feet dangling off the platform. Just like the rest of the counselors, he was looking welcoming, but very cool. He smiled and scanned to his left and right pointing out people in the crowd he recognized and they smiled back at his acknowledgement.

Cormac glanced back toward Hermione and patted the space next to him. Hermione was unsure if she should obey or not, but she stepped toward him and took a seat.

"Any of these people look familiar?" Cormac said facing the crowd again still waving to people. The crowd was growing. The group from the train station must've just arrived.

"Not really," Hermione hated admitting the words.

"You really didn't make any new friends when you were here, Granger," Cormac said accusingly.

"I had all the friends I wanted," Hermione said seeing Naomi shuffle down the steps to the stage. She did recognize several of the faces in the audience, but she was confident that she wouldn't be able to know any of them by name.

"Seems like you didn't take the assignment very seriously then," Cormac said playfully. He had a sense this would push one of her bookwormish buttons.

"I took those assignments very seriously, Cormac," she said sternly, but when she went to face him he had a big grin on his face.

"I'm just kidding. Lighten up," he winked at her so quickly, she almost didn't see it, "Don't be nervous."

"Cormac McLaggen," a voice from the lowest set of seats said.

Apparently, Cormac recognized the voice. Before he had fully looked away from Hermione, he was down on the voice's same level.

"Dayton Ward!' Cormac took the thirteen year old in a brotherly hug, "Look at how much you've grown." Cormac said pulling away from the hug and looking at the boy and grinned, "I like your haircut."

"Just like yours," the boy named Dayton said stroking his hand through his hair.

"Looks good, mate," Cormac said taking one look at him again. Cormac caught Hermione's smile out of the corner of her eye, "Dayton, this is Hermione Granger." He said motioning a hand in her direction.

"How do you do, Dayton," Hermione said extending a hand from her seat.

Dayton didn't say anything to her. He just shook Hermione's hand.

Cormac smacked him in the upper arm – surprisingly hard, "Don't be rude."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione," Dayton said wincing through a little pain.

"That's better," Cormac said smiling to himself.

"I thought having a fucking girlfriend would make you less violent," Dayton said out the corner of his mouth and a smirk on his face. He was trying to prove to Cormac he was tough, and also thought Hermione was cute and swearing was badass.

"Hey," Cormac smacked him on the back of the head this time, "Don't use that word."

Hermione was certain there was a whole section in their orientation packets about never hitting the campers, but she supposed Cormac wasn't one for listening particularly well, or re-reading the material.

"You were the one that taught me that word!" Dayton said covering the back of his head in fear of another blow.

"That doesn't mean you can use it," Cormac scolded him like an older sibling, "Go sit down, you little shit."

Dayton cracked a small smile before he sat down in the front row.

By the time Dayton sat down, Mr. Craig was attempting to hush the crowd in front of him. Cormac and Hermione silently retreated to join the ranks of the counselors lined up on the stage as he went into his welcoming comments.

Hermione wasn't surprised to see that the beginning of his introduction to camp wasn't different from the years previous that she had attended. With the microphone, the counselors went one by one introducing themselves, naming the cabin they were in charge of and their favorite camp activities. This time Hermione didn't forget.

At the end of Mr. Craig's turn to introduce the camp, each of the counselors pulled up a box with the welcome packets for the campers and Hermione began handing out last names Blackett through Druins.

Once the last camper from her box received his welcome packet, Hermione trotted off to join the masses that were crossing over Lower Bridge. She caught Naomi on the bridge who was teeming with excitement.

"This is it," she said to Hermione, "first day of camp."

"I'm assuming you are heading right to the dining hall?" Hermione questioned.

"You know what they say about 'assuming', Hermione," Naomi said looking at her.

"I know. I should've known better. Get a big table so that the Lady Otters can join the Lady Foxes," Hermione asked her friend.

"You mean the 'Vixens,'" she added a little sass on the word, "But, you've got it."

"Ok, perfect. See you in a bit," Hermione continued toward the Lady Otters' cabin alone, as Naomi turned to head for the Vixens' cabin.

Hermione was almost to the steps of the Lady Otters' cabin when Cormac's voice shouted from behind her, "Want us to wait for you, Granger?"

Hermione turned back to see him, and he had a pack of eight boys waiting around him. The two smallest, that couldn't be older than six, were hanging like chimps from his arms. He was curling them like weights in the air. Dayton stood right next to his beloved Cormac.

"No it's ok, we're going to meet up with Naomi and the Vixens," she said covering her mouth to hide a laugh.

"Suit yourself," he told her while spinning back in the direction of Lower Bridge, "Hares, to the dining hall!"

Hermione stood outside the door, took a deep breath, twisted the doorknob and entered. The cabin was full with all eight girls. Their heads turned to look in her direction and every one of their faces lit up with excitement. Hermione knew everything was going to be just fine.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Hermione. I'm going to be your counselor for the next week," she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

Hermione and Naomi sat in the middle of the long table that the Vixens had occupied. Girls were lined on both sides of them. The feeling from the meal was that all the girls seemed genuinely nice, and were very excited for the first activities of camp, which were the last two sessions of the day.

There was a tangible excitement in the room. The campers were ready to have fun, the counselors were ready to run activities and were happy to be done with orientation. Now was the time everyone was waiting for. Mr. Craig's bullhorn went off and the organized chaos of finding where to head for the first session of camp began.

The structure of Camp Craig hadn't changed since Hermione began attending. There were three meals a day, six activity sessions, a little bit of free time, and designated sleep time. On the first day of camp, two ninety-minute long sessions followed the late lunch. After the two sessions, there was a little free time, dinner, some more free time, then the campers were expected in their cabins before formal "lights out".

As the bullhorn went off, she found a corner of the room and started calling for the campers that were registered for the Tennis "clinic". The session was advertised as a clinic even though there weren't any formal instructors on the premises. Once or twice she stood in the corner asking for all those enrolled for tennis to come to her, but none showed up. Pretty soon the room was divided up and Hermione was left alone in her corner. Some groups were heading for the door.

"This way, Granger," Cormac said leading a troop of about fifteen campers.

Hermione stepped out of the corner and walked next to Cormac, "I was calling for Tennis too." She sounded confused.

"I guess the campers just don't recognize you yet," Cormac said to his side.

They walked the campers for five minutes until they were at the tennis courts. There were nine courts – arranged three by three. Off to the side, within the high fences that surrounded the courts there were weatherproof lockers that held all the equipment. From where Hermione stood, she could see the football pitches to one side and the basketball and volleyball courts on the other.

Cormac was opening the lockers and there was a mad dash from the campers to grab the newest and shiniest rackets.

Once everyone was equipped for the session, they had already lost ten minutes of the ninety minute period.

Hermione had been preparing for this lesson all orientation. She didn't know that tennis was going to be her first activity, but she was prepared for her first excursion as a counselor.

"Ok, who is ready to learn some of the basic strokes in tennis?" Hermione said addressing the crowd. Hermione wouldn't consider herself a "tennis pro", but she understood the fundamentals of the sport and could keep a rally going.

Before anyone could respond to her offer, Cormac chimed in, "No one wants to 'learn the basics'," he said creating air quotes with his racket in one hand, "Who wants to play a fun game?" He said this with a lot of enthusiasm.

The campers responded with excited chatter.

"Anyone that wants to play go stand on that end," Cormac said pointing to the baseline – as tennis players call it.

A single file line formed and kids were pushing and shoving to get to the front.

"Fundamentals are boring, Hermione," Cormac said out of the side of his mouth. He picked up a hopper of balls and carried them to the other side of the net from the line of campers.

Hermione, feeling slightly deflated, turned to head for the back of the line, but she was stopped by a little girl that couldn't be older than seven.

"Hi, sweetie," Hermione said looking down at the timid looking girl.

"I would like to learn the basics," she said holding her racket against her body. The combination of metal and strings was as big as her torso.

Hermione smiled and patted her on the top of the head, "Ok, you go meet me over there on Court 2." Hermione pointed to where she meant.

The little girl smiled, turned and jogged to the court. With a grin, Hermione circled to the same side of the net as Cormac.

"I'm going to need a few balls," she said sticking her hand out toward him.

Cormac thought hard about making an inappropriate joke, but decided it was too easy. With a sly smile, seeing that Hermione was pleased with herself, he gave her two handfuls of tennis balls.

"Alright, off with you," he said gently patting her on her backside to move her off of his court.

Hermione shot him a dirty look.

He raised his eyebrows as if he were challenging her to do something.

She just rolled her eyes and met with the girl.

To start, there were fifteen minutes of misery for Hermione. Trying to teach a child the basics of a forehand, backhand and volley in tennis wasn't difficult. The strokes were simple enough. The little girl, whose name was Amber and was the youngest of the Lady Otters, didn't have the arm strength to successfully return a ball over the net.

Hermione spent half the time retrieving balls out of the net or the fence located behind Amber. Hermione did her best to not let the little girl see her frustration, because Hermione didn't want to discourage her, but it was a tiring task recovering the six balls Cormac had given her. But most importantly, she didn't want Cormac to witness her frustration, because she was proud to say that at least one person wanted to learn the fundamentals.

Hermione would peer over to the adjacent court where Cormac's game was a huge success. It didn't matter if the campers could hit the ball successfully or not, they were running around the court, and trying to catch fly-balls or if they were more experienced, they would try to hit the ball down the line. Hermione was jealous. She was caught staring by Cormac once or twice, and he had a smug expression on his face.

Hermione finally felt her worth, when Amber proved herself by hitting the ball over the net twice in a row. Prior to that, most of her returns were lucky, but after two successive hits Hermione justified that she had taught the little girl something.

This hadn't gone unnoticed. In the middle of his game, Cormac congratulated the Lady Otter. He stopped everything he was doing and made sure she knew how good she did.

"Did everyone see that?" Cormac pointed with his tennis racket. Everyone turned to look at Hermione and Amber, "Was that two in a row?"

The little girl smiled brightly and nodded twice.

"Great job," Cormac said running over to her and offering her a high five. She answered his offer enthusiastically. Hermione smiled.

Cormac turned out of his high five with the small girl in Hermione's direction. He mouthed, "Good job."

"Game over," Cormac said waving his hands side to side. There were groans from the kids, "Come over here and take a seat. Hermione is going to teach us the fundamentals of," he paused. He made a silly motion around the courts with his hands, "this."

The campers trotted around and sat on the floor. Hermione was flustered for a second, but recovered and went over the same lesson she was going over with Amber, but in slightly more detail.

For the remaining time of the period, Hermione and Cormac commanded a court each and fed tennis balls for the campers to practice their forehand, backhand, and volleys from the net. The kids seemed to have a good time with it.

Cormac looked down at his watch and they had 10 minutes to get back to separate for the next camp activity.

"Alright, let's put everything away in the lockers and head back to the dining hall," Cormac said.

People threw their rackets away untidily, and Cormac carried the ball baskets to the locker. After Hermione helped tidy everything, they led the group back to the central part of camp.

Hermione and Cormac were standing side-by-side. The campers all around them were going on about how great of a time it was. Of course, they were excited about the game that Cormac introduced to them, but most of the conversation was using buzzwords like "forehand" and "backhand". Kids were talking about which they were stronger at and reiterating some of the things that Hermione had just taught them. She was feeling a warmth swell up in her.

Silently, Cormac extended a closed fist in Hermione's direction.

At first she was confused. She looked at him with a face that let him know what she was feeling.

He just looked down at his fist expectedly.

Hermione tapped it with her own.

"Nice job," he said quietly.

Those were the only words that they exchanged for the remainder of the walk, but that was all that Hermione wanted to hear.

Once inside the cafeteria, the remainder of camp showed up shortly. The bullhorn sounded again and the groups dispersed.

Hermione and Cormac had to head to separate corners of the room.

"I'll see you later," Cormac said stopping in his tracks so that Hermione could cut in front of him.

"Thanks," Hermione responded flipping her hair behind her ear. As she walked to the corner where Naomi was standing shouting for the cooking class, she wondered if "thanks" was an appropriate response. It wasn't. Hermione turned back to look for Cormac, and he was making his way toward Wayne and the group headed to the volleyball courts. He was also looking back in her direction. He twiddled his fingers in her direction. She looked away shyly.

"Looks like our boyfriends are going to be working together," Naomi said catching Hermione interaction with Cormac.

"Oh god, please. It's not like that. I just met him like three days ago," Hermione said standing up on a chair next to Naomi. Slowly, their group of campers was surrounding them.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't like him," Naomi turned to her friend.

Hermione opened her eyes wide and with a straight face told her, "I don't like Cormac McLaggen."

Something about the way she said it didn't truly convince Naomi.

"I can't like him. I barely know him," Hermione started to rationalize her logic.

"The heart wants what the heart wants," Naomi said with a corny tone.

"You're an idiot," Hermione said stepping down, once they had amassed their class.

Again, there were between fifteen and twenty people registered for the session. Hermione and Naomi led them outside the dining hall and to the back side of the same building. There was a large studio that was set up with nothing too fancy, but six workstations that had cooking basics, large work surfaces, ovens and stove tops. At the front of the studio, was one identical workstation for demonstration.

Once inside the building, Hermione and Naomi hurried to assign the campers into different work areas. As soon as Hermione and Naomi had finished the basic safety rules of the cooking session, they began a quick tutorial on something simple. Naomi and Hermione had first learned how to make a very basic white cake in the same room years ago.

The pair of them worked together to whip up the batter with the ingredients from the open pantry area and showed the campers the correct kitchen tools to complete the task. After the fifteen minutes of experienced prep time the two counselors required, they turned the campers loose.

Flour and sugar were beginning to dust the floor, but that would be cleaned up later. With very few interruptions, Naomi was able to interrogate Hermione on Cormac.

After Hermione disclosed how the tennis session went, she ended her comments with a somewhat dreamy air, "He's not so bad."

"What do you mean?" Naomi pried.

"Sometimes he is a little full of himself and can be a crude jackass, but when he is around me and only me, he's pretty great."

"Great?" Naomi said with a pleased expression on her face.

"Great. Good. There's no real definitive way to measure," Hermione said flustered. She sensed that Naomi had an idea up her sleeve, "Don't you dare meddle! I don't need a boyfriend. You and Wayne are the outlier couple."

"Ok," Naomi said turning to address a boy that approached their workstation. Hermione didn't feel a lot of confidence that her best friend was going to leave this alone.

The boy was having a hard time preheating the oven and asked Naomi for her help.

Naomi looked back at Hermione as she rounded the table to help the camper out, "If there's no heat, nothing will get cooking." It wasn't an elegant metaphor, but Hermione rolled her eyes just the same, because the message was received.

With fifteen minutes left in the session, there was Hermione and Naomi's perfectly made, yet painfully simple, cake, and half a dozen disasters. The counselors suggested that everyone lather the cakes with icing to hide the burnt edges and slice them into individual sized pieces. Hermione and Naomi handed out paper plates, and the campers transferred the pieces to their plates to be brought back to the cabins. Hopefully, no one would be poisoned.

The pair of them led the group back to the amphitheater. Because it was the last session of the day, Mr. Craig had some closing words for everyone. Campers and counselors filled the seats and Mr. Craig thanked everyone for a very successful first day of the summer and told everyone that there were thirty minutes until dinner.

Everyone was dismissed and the group of roughly one hundred eighty people disbanded in different directions. Several people went to Upper Bridge to head to the Beavers and Ducks cabins, a large number went to Lower Bridge where the majority of cabins were, as well as the docks, and another smaller group headed toward the camp store.

This is where Hermione would be working until the six o'clock dinner. Again, Hermione and Naomi would be working in the store along with another two or three counselors. This camp job wasn't too bad. There was someone that had to work the register while campers paid for snacks, candies, and drinks. Others had to make sure that no one was abusing the communal telly, table tennis equipment, billiard equipment, or anything else. Lastly, the camp store's basement was a notorious make-out spot for some of the older campers, which needed to be patrolled, but since most of the counselors had been horny younger teens, for the most part, they did a half-hearted job patrolling the lower floor.

Hermione and Naomi were working behind the register helping take orders from campers. The girls would retrieve sports drinks, or different popular candies as the kids got to the front of the line. Hermione was busily working on blending up a pair of milkshakes for a fifteen year old couple when Nicky walked in.

Hermione waved since the blender was too loud. Naomi hopped over the counter, quite athletically, and pulled Nicky to her side. Hermione couldn't hear a word over the whirring piece of equipment, but she was certain Naomi and Nicky were plotting something.

**A/N: What could it possibly be? Comment with your thoughts, or just give me some words of encouragement :)**

**jrb2009**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: My faithful followers,**

**I almost neglected to post this chapter for you! I got home from work early (aka I left the office at 5:15) and I came home to have a glass of wine, and one glass turned into four. My girlfriend actually asked me if I had updated my story, so thank you, girlfriend! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

After dinner, there was another chunk of free time that lasted one hour before the campers were expected in their cabins. Again, Hermione was staffed to work in the camp store. She was feeling like she was being taken advantage of as a newbie, but she was reassured that as the sessions went on the camp jobs would rotate. Naomi and Wayne were a part of the set of counselors that were going to start a bonfire, and she wasn't looking forward to being alone.

By the time dinner was over at 7 o'clock, the sun was almost completely down. Along with roughly half the camp, Hermione headed to the camp store. The store was close to the entrance gatehouse and located on the other side of the stream as the Squirrels' cabins. It took three minutes to walk there from the dining hall.

Once through the doors, the groups of campers that sprinted after dinner were already in line. Some were in line waiting for the counselors to start taking their parents' hard earned money, others were up either playing or watching games of pool or ping pong, and the remainder was lounging on couches around the room or in front of the TV.

To appease the amassing line, Hermione knelt under one of the barriers that created a boundary from campers and counselors. Hermione was unsure of how to work the register, so she pretended to busy herself with some of the inventory. On a back counter there were boxes of the bestselling candies, and there were many more in the back storage closet. There were coolers of different soft drinks: sodas, water, sports drinks, juice boxes anything. In cupboard above the counter of candy, there were shirts and hats with the camp seal on it. And off to one side of counter space there were microwaves and blenders to reheat different options the campers could buy or blenders for creating milkshakes – something she was already familiar with.

Hermione didn't need to straighten out the boxes of snacks for long, because shortly after her arrival the rest of the troupe of counselors showed up. Gary headed for the register, Cormac hopped over the barrier to join Hermione, and the rest of them intermingled amongst the campers.

"Ok, first up," Gary said pointing to the front of the line. An eleven year old was holding his money in his hand and was trying to do the math to understand what he could buy based on the prices of the sign.

Gary was no nonsense. He was taking the campers' money and firing off what he needed from Hermione and Cormac. Cormac was bobbing and weaving around the little "kitchen". He was able to ballet around the area and grab two packages of fruit snacks, a bag of popcorn, and a soda in no time. Just as quickly as Gary was calling out for things, Cormac was placing them down at the register.

The only thing that required time was Hermione and her milkshakes. During the thirty minute break between the last period of the day and dinner, she had no problem making the milkshakes, but now the demand was higher since it was after dinner and the sweet-tooths were coming out.

They had been working non-stop for twenty minutes and Hermione was beginning to feel really worked up. There was a lot of noise from the campers, the blenders were loud, Gary was asking for more and more milkshakes, and she was feeling overwhelmed. The worst thing about all of it was that her forearm was cramping from scooping out the rock hard ice cream from the freezer. And possibly worse than that, she couldn't find a more efficient system to make her life easier.

When she almost reached her breaking point from making her twentieth milkshake, she let out a frustrated sigh. She placed her ice cream scoop in the container and was too tired to even make one scoop. A hand came against her hip.

"Here," Cormac said placing his hand over hers on the scoop. He came to stand directly behind her. His voice calmed her significantly, "Let's switch."

He removed his hand from her side and took the scoop out of her hand.

"Thank you," she said feeling bad that she was getting annoyed at an inanimate ice cream scoop.

"Go wash your hands," Cormac said smiling, digging into the ice cream container.

Hermione washed the frozen treat, and different flavoured syrups from her hands and went back to taking orders from Gary. Hermione enjoyed flashing around the small areas bending and reaching for the different combinations of camp hats, sports drinks and chips. It was a way for her to get over her milkshake fiasco.

After fifteen minutes, the line had slowed down and only a few campers remained. Gary called back to Hermione, "I need one cream soda, and an extra-large shirt."

Hermione grabbed the soda no problem, but when she opened the cupboard, she couldn't find the size she was looking for.

"Top shelf," Cormac called out to her without turning back.

Hermione looked up and not even if she jumped, would she be able to reach.

"Switch again," Cormac said heading to the sink to wash the stickiness from his hands.

Hermione didn't want to go back to filling out milkshake orders, but she didn't argue. Cormac grabbed the shirt from the highest shelf and brought it to the register.

The remaining half dozen customers of the evening had Cormac crossing over every side of the kitchen. Each time he walked passed Hermione, he placed his hand tenderly on her lower back to make sure he didn't accidentally bump into her.

The first few times that he touched her, it startled her, but pretty soon she came to expect it. When the last milkshake was handed over, Hermione approached the sink and began to wash.

"Nicely done," Cormac said standing behind her. Hermione had already applied soap and was rinsing her hands under the tap. Cormac reached to one side of her and applied soap to his hands. Almost wrapping her in a hug, he placed his hands together and created suds with his palms around her body. Hermione finished with her hands under the tap and was smiling at his playfulness. She reached up for the paper towel dispenser and grabbed one, while she was still trapped in his arms. As she was drying, he proceeded to rinse. Hermione had to stand there gently giggling while he finished rinsing and drying. He balled up his paper towel in one hand and tossed it in the rubbish bin skillfully.

"I said, 'Nicely done'," Cormac said to her offering a high-five.

Hermione circled away from him, toward the trash can. She dropped her paper towel in and reciprocated the clap.

Gary was counting all the cash they had collected from the register and seemed pleased. There was still ten minutes left in the remaining free time, but there were no more campers in line so the camp store was 'closed'. Cormac leapt over the counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the camp store while Hermione made to duck under the section that folded up that allowed for easy entrance/exit capability, but there was camp merchandise over the flap that lifted, so it was easiest to slide under rather than remove the things on the counter and exit properly.

This was the easiest way, but it was not perfect. Hermione was just admiring Cormac's leap as she stood up too fast. She knocked her head on the underside of the counter. Almost every head in the camp store turned. Hermione wanted to stand and play it off like nothing had happened, but she felt her eyes water up.

She went to bring her hand to her head, but Cormac had beaten her there. He had covered the space between them so quickly, she hadn't even seen him.

"Go back to your stuff, everyone," Cormac said to the onlookers of forty or so people. Next, he addressed Hermione, "Let's go outside." He led her to the door and took her to the cooler night air. It was refreshing not to be in the stuffy building.

Hermione was wincing. She was still in some pain, but was also embarrassed. Cormac placed an arm around her waist and pulled her into him, "Shhh. It's ok." Her head was rested in his smelly camp shirt. There was surely sweat from tennis, and sand from volleyball in his shirt, but Hermione felt comforted.

She didn't cry or even have one heavy breath, but she really, really, really wanted to. After using all of her strength to keep from shedding a tear, she stepped away from him.

"Let me go grab you a thing of ice," Cormac said tenderly reaching up and finding a small bump on her head. She nodded.

Cormac almost trampled over the campers that were heading for the bridges. It was time for all the campers to report to their cabins. After a quick check to make sure everyone was accounted for there would be a very brief counselors' meeting. Hermione said good night to most of the campers as she waited for Cormac. Several of the counselors that were mingling with the campers were escorting the lot toward either Upper or Lower Bridge. The last people to exit the camp store were Cormac and Gary.

"So we will see you in a bit?" Gary was finishing up with Cormac.

"Yeah, cool," Cormac said easily.

"Good," Gary then headed toward the amphitheater at a jog to meet up with Nicky and Mr. and Mrs. Craig for a recap of the day before the counselors' meeting.

"How are you feeling?" Cormac asked holding out the bag of ice he made from a sandwich bag and as many ice cubes as he could fit.

"Not bad," Hermione said truthfully. She winced when the bag came in contact with the bump.

"Let me take a look again," Cormac said as they stepped under one of the solar lights. There was a lump, but no blood, "Feel dizzy?"

"No, I just feel dumb," she said reapplying the ice to her head.

"I'm sorry," Cormac said stepping to her side.

"What were you and Gary talking about?" Hermione asked him, changing the subject.

"Oh, I almost forgot. He and Nicky want to have some of us over at their cabins after the counselor meeting. We aren't supposed to say anything to anyone, but Gary said that Naomi and Wayne were invited," Cormac said, "Obviously, I'm telling you because you were invited."

"Oh ok," Hermione was feeling like she had broken into the inner circle of coolest counselors on her first day. She was feeling anxious but also excited.

Cormac walked with Hermione on the lighted paths until she was outside the Lady Otters' cabin. They wouldn't go more than a few steps before he would ask if she was feeling ok, and time and time again she would need to reassure him that she was ok.

"Cormac, I swear, I'm fine," she said stepping onto the porch of the Lady Otters' cabin.

"Ok, fine," he said. His tone made it sound like he was promising to never bring it up again, "I'll meet you back here and we can walk to the counselors' meeting."

"I'd like that," Hermione said hanging on the doorknob to the cabin.

Cormac turned and trotted to his boys' cabin, which wasn't far from where they were just standing.

Once inside, Hermione took a quick headcount and all eight of her girls were in the cabin. She reminded them to get in their pajamas and brush their teeth.

"Make sure you get in bed and lights out at nine," Hermione said as she left the cabin lights on, "breakfast at seven. I will get you at 6:50." were the last things she said before bidding them goodnight.

Hermione stood outside and Cormac was nowhere to be found. Hermione waited for one minute, then another, before she decided to walk to the Hares' cabin.

"I swear to god, Dayton, I will hit you in front of everyone here, if you don't brush your teeth and get in bed," Cormac's voice called from inside the cabin. The boys' voices were much rowdier than Hermione's girls.

After a few more minutes of pleading and threatening, Cormac told his boys when he would get them for breakfast and exited, before making a snarky remark at Dayton.

He saw Hermione waiting for him, "God, I love that kid. Sorry for making you wait. He is a pain in my ass. Ready?" Cormac had a plastic bottle with a sports drink in his hand as he was rehydrating from the day of running around with the campers.

They made it to the amphitheater and almost everyone was there. After waiting another minute the last few counselors showed up, and Mr. and Mrs. Craig quickly thanked everyone and had a quick "roundtable" session where everyone had the opportunity to say something. For the most part, everyone agreed that it was a good first day. After the very brief meeting, everyone was dismissed. People got up to head back to the counselor cabins, but not everyone. Hermione was expecting a larger number of people to be invited to the Head Counselor cabins, but only six people remained behind. As expected, Gary and Nicky were walking toward the Head Counselors' cabins, but after that only Cormac, Naomi, Wayne and herself were left.

Hermione didn't want to ask questions so she blindly followed. Not a lot was said until the group reached the male Head Counselor's cabin. Gary held the door for everyone and everyone stepped inside. The layout of the cabin wasn't much different than Hermione's, but it was larger. Rather than just a bed, dresser and night tables, there was a little sitting area and a table with chairs.

"Slide those chairs up to the table," Gary said pointing to the two comfy living chairs off to the side.

Wayne and Cormac slid them toward the table, while the girls maneuvered the other chairs so that all six could fit around the square table.

Gary was reaching into his dresser and was moving some things so that he could access the very back. He pulled out a tall bottle of clear liquid and a stack of disposable cups that could hold enough liquid for a very large sip. He placed those on the table. Next, he went back to his dresser and took out a regular glass tumbler and put it on the table. Last, he dug into his pocket and took out a one pound coin. Hermione was familiar with the coin, but when she would share this story with Ron or Harry later, she would describe the coin as the size of a Sickle.

"Ok here's the game," Gary said taking a seat, and motioning everyone else to follow suit.

Hermione ended up sitting between Nicky and Cormac. She and Cormac were sitting so closely that their hands almost touched.

Gary went to explain the game while he poured the clear liquid into the smaller cups. Everyone had four of the full little cups placed in front of them, these were equivalent to "lives". If you ran out of "lives" you were out. When it was your "turn", you would take the coin and bounce it off the table into the larger glass cup. If you were successful, you would designate someone to drink one of their "lives", if you were unsuccessful it was the next person's turn and you would offer no punishments to anyone. Gary demonstrated and made sure everyone understood the game. Once it was agreed that the rules were simple, he handed the coin to Nicky to go first.

She bounced the coin off the table and into the cup, "Drink up, Gar." She smiled as she passed the coin to Hermione.

Hermione watched how Gary and Nicky had both bounced the coin and tried to repeat, but she bounced the coin off the side of the glass with a tink sound.

Cormac took the coin and bounced it in like his Head Counselors, "Go ahead, Nicky," he said moving the coin in front of Gary.

Gary also bounced the coin in, "Payback is a bitch, Nick." He smiled at her.

"Fuck you both," Nicky said holding up her middle finger and tipping her head back to put down the clear liquid. She gave an audible sigh and made a scrunched face.

Wayne missed to Hermione's surprise.

"The great Wayne Jones missed? The guy who can do anything with his hands?" Nicky replied.

"Oh my, you should've seen this guy on the volleyball court!" Cormac said going into a story about Wayne from earlier.

Naomi picked up the coin, and to Hermione's surprise again, made it. "Go ahead, Hermione," she had a sly smile while Cormac continued the story.

Hermione was happy to see that Cormac had everyone's attention, because she sniffed the drink in the cup and it did not seem friendly. Quickly, she put the liquid in her mouth and tried to taste it. This was a mistake. She swallowed the taste she had in her mouth and made a disgusted face. This didn't go unnoticed.

"You just need to suck it up and do the whole thing. Try to hold your breath while you do it," Nicky tried to advise her. She had interrupted Cormac's story.

Hermione didn't want to be a buzzkill, so she did as Nicky told her. She tipped the whole thing in her mouth and swallowed without tasting. There was a burn in her throat and she had to cough a few times, but she got through it. Cormac went back to his story.

The group proceeded to bounce the coin off the table and swap stories from the first day at work. About fifteen minutes later, everyone was down to their last life except Hermione who still had three of her cups in front of her. That changed quickly.

Hermione had just missed again, and Cormac bounced the coin in with no problem, and instructed Hermione to take a sip. Again, she didn't like the feeling, but she put up with it. Next, Gary bounced the object in the cup and pointed at Hermione with a wink.

"Gar," Nicky said with a disapproving tone.

"I had to, she's ahead." He reasoned.

Hermione hadn't fully recovered from the last shot that she had taken, but she picked up the little cup and allowed the burning fluid down her throat. She went into a small coughing fit and tried to find relief.

"Here," Cormac handed her his drink from earlier. There was a little sports drink left and Hermione gladly used it to relieve her. She wasn't embarrassed, because she wasn't the only one that had a small coughing spell. Naomi went into one, Wayne had two and even Gary claimed that the liquid went down the wrong pipe.

Wayne was next and made his shot. Now, he had the chance to play God.

"Sorry, Cormac," Wayne said, pointing to him.

"What?! I thought we were friends now!" Cormac wasn't truly mad, but he was playing it off well. Everyone laughed.

"Think about it, Mate," Wayne told him, "I can't have Naomi lose, or no sex." He was feeling the slight buzz. Naomi smacked him. He continued, "Hermione is her best friend. And these two are my bosses. That makes you the odd man out."

Cormac extended his middle finger and took his drink with dignity. Naomi was next and bounced hers in and told Wayne to drink.

"What?!" he was appalled.

"Like you said, these two are our bosses, and Chicks before Dicks," Naomi said reaching for a high-five from Hermione.

"No sex for a week!" Wayne said, "Treachery!"

"You wish," she reached over and pecked her boyfriend on the lips.

He also took his shot with his head held high.

Nicky made hers and kicked off Gary, who made a comment questioning how all the boys lost before any of the girls.

Then Hermione missed, Naomi made it and knocked off Hermione, who took her last drink before finishing Cormac's sports drink. She placed the empty bottle on the table and turned back to watch the game finish. She felt Cormac's hand on her thigh. She looked down at it and then into his face. He was slightly red, but still just as handsome. He was smiling at her and rubbed his hand up and down once. Hermione placed her hand on his. She was feeling a little lightheaded.

The game finished with Nicky being the champion. Gary was mortified. After the girls celebrated and the boys commiserated, the group sat around and chatted a little more, before they decided it was time to head back to the campers' cabins and make sure the lights were out and then crawl into bed themselves.

Everyone offered to help cleanup, but Gary assured them that most everything went straight to the trash, he herded everyone out his door and out to the night. Nicky stepped in the opposite direction of the other four because her cabin was right next to Gary's, so she said good night as the four counselors headed back to the cabins.

"Here," Wayne said taking Naomi by the hand, "My cabin is just on the other side of the creek."

"No I don't want to get wet, Wayne," Naomi said to her boyfriend, her voice was amplified after her four drinks.

"It's ok. I'll carry you," he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"We will see you in the morning," Naomi said back to Cormac and Hermione as Wayne dragged her to his "shortcut".

That left the pair of them in the night all alone.

"Walk you to your cabin?" Cormac asked with a flicker in his eye.

Hermione didn't have words come to her mouth, not from the alcohol, but from a sense of shyness. She nodded her head and placed her hair behind her ear.

**A/N: The time has come! For those of you that are more interested in the smut that I write rather than the characters and plot that I build, tomorrow may be your lucky day - I don't want to give anything away! But I believe alcohol is the perfect ex machina for pushing a little heated passion. I look forward to hearing people's reviews (I'm disappointed from the last chapter, I thought it was a decent chapter), but as always, I hope you enjoyed!**

**jrb2009**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I won't keep you from your readings! Enjoy.**

**Chapter 14 **

Cormac smiled and bit his lip at the same time. He was feeling some of the looser effects of the alcohol as well. He wanted to reach out and take Hermione's hand in his, but then he remembered that Cormac McLaggen wasn't the kind of boy that held hands. He found his hand already drifting toward her body and to keep from reaching out and taking her hand, he tried to wrap his arm around her back, but that made it too difficult to walk comfortably, so he returned his hand to his pocket. It was an awkward moment for both of them, and they did not play it off well.

From Gary's cabin, both of them were trying to find something to talk about. There was a little tension between the two of them as they made their way to the cabins. Hermione was trying to think of something that she could ask to create some sort of conversation, while Cormac was wondering if he should ask about her head, or if she was feeling ok.

Once on Lower Bridge, he was torn from asking her to look at the bump on her head, or asking how the Cooking session went, but he decided on asking her about neither.

"Fuck it," Cormac said to himself, and that took Hermione by slight surprise. What he did next surprised her much more.

With his hand that was previously holding her around the waist, Cormac reached up behind her head. Making sure to avoid the bump from her accident, he tilted her face toward his. Confused and helpless against his strong arms, she turned right into his kiss.

As their lips made contact, they both stopped walking. In sync, the two of them moved to face each other without having their lips separate. This kiss was just as heated as the one in Hermione's cabin. Cormac moved both his hands to the sides of Hermione's face while she reached up onto Cormac's muscular upper back. She was gripping into his skin and he loved it. She was only hoping that she was doing everything right.

She was informed that she was exciting Cormac when he backed her up hurriedly, but in control, until the wooden handrails of Lower Bridge came into contact with Hermione's lower back. The supports weren't designed for teenagers to lean heavily against them, so the wood creaked, but nothing broke.

Cormac slid his tongue between their lips and Hermione immediately allowed him to flick against her lips before she used her tongue to play back. Cormac moved his hands from the sides of her face. One went to her hair that was untidy from a day of running around at camp, and his other pulled her close to him by her waist. Hermione responded by wrapping both her arms around his waist.

They stood there turning and twisting their heads with each of their kisses while their tongues passed over each other's. In a mildly violent move that startled Hermione - but almost made her heart jump, Cormac pulled her by the back of her hair. She was forced to gasp slightly as she obeyed his force and opened her neck toward him.

Cormac placed hungry kisses just below her ear and along her jawline.

These tickled her more than anything at first. She tried to cringe away from his delicate touches.

"Relax," Cormac breathed against her neck.

Hermione did her best to take his advice and it took a second or two for her to appreciate the sensuality of the kisses. Hermione separated her hands and lifted one into his hair and took a fistful of his locks in her hand. Her other hand was gripping the side of skin below his ribs. It was tight and strong against her hand, but also a spot she felt was vulnerable to her slight touches.

Cormac went back to kissing Hermione on the lips. They twisted against each other until Cormac ventured to be playful. He took Hermione's lower lip between his teeth and meant to gently bite. He was too zealous in his attempt and caused Hermione too much discomfort.

She winced in slight pain, "Ow."

Cormac immediately ceased what he was doing, "I'm sorry." Cormac said terrified that he had ruined the mood.

"No, it's ok," Hermione said bringing a hand to her lip to see if she was bleeding. She couldn't see in the darkness of the night, so she brought her tongue to where she may have been bleeding, but there wasn't anything there, "I thought you were just going to walk me to my cabin." Hermione said with a different tone in her voice than she normally had. Cormac liked it.

"I'm sorry," he said with a little attitude back, "I can do that." He stepped away so that she could move off of the bridge's railing. Cormac turned so that he was facing the cabins and started to walk off the bridge. Before he was more than two steps away from her, Hermione took his hand in hers.

Cormac didn't complain as they walked across the open clearing of cabins. All the lights were off and all was quiet. There was no need to go into the cabins and make sure that everyone was asleep. It was evident that everyone was either in dream land or would be there shortly.

Hermione had a little more pep in her step than normal and it could be attributed to a combination of her shared kisses with Cormac and the unnamed clear liquid they had consumed in Gary's cabin, but who knew? She led Cormac down the path that led to the Otters' counselors' cabins.

They hadn't spoken a word since Lower Bridge and at the bottom of the steps that led to Hermione's cabin they stopped. Hermione didn't know what to say next. Was the appropriate response "thank you"? Or was that too innocent. If she said, "Do you want to come in", would that make her too easy?

Cormac had decided their fate without waiting for Hermione's opinion. Cormac turned Hermione by the hand that was holding hers. She pirouetted on the spot to face him. Cormac reached out with his powerful hands and placed them on her bottom. He lifted her small frame effortlessly from the ground, and brought his lips to hers. Cormac supported her around her lower back and behind the back of her head. Instinctively, Hermione laced her legs around his waist and looped her arms around the back of his neck.

Hermione felt like she was gliding up the steps to her cabin. Cormac was strong in all the right ways. He could support her weight and move her right where he wanted her, but he was also delicate. He seemed to take great care not to jostle her around violently, but moved deliberately. With the hand that was behind her head, Cormac reached down and opened the door into the cabin and brought them both inside. Cormac left the lights off.

Before he carried her too far into the cabin he pulled his lips away from hers, "Are you ok?" he wasn't referring to her head, he wasn't asking her how her day was, he was making sure he wasn't overstepping any boundaries. It was better for him to ask now rather when it was too late and he wouldn't have the self-control to stop himself.

Hermione didn't speak but nodded her head in the darkness as she came back down to kiss him. Cormac took that as a consensual "yes". He smiled in awe against her lips. After he remembered where he was, he decided to get a little rougher. He tossed Hermione from wrapped around his waist onto her bed.

She was so surprised at the strength and quickness that he used, she couldn't help but giggle. She was definitely drunk now, but she couldn't be sure if it all had to do with the liquor.

Hermione could see his smile as he climbed onto the bed with her by the moonlight shining through her windows. As Cormac approached her, he cupped her face and slowly helped ease her onto her back. He climbed on top of her and put most of his weight against her body.

Hermione had never been kissed on a bed before Cormac. She had never really been kissed like this before. Krum had tried his hardest back in Hermione's fourth year, but this was completely different.

Again, Cormac had one hand in Hermione's hair and his other hand was toying with the waistband of her shorts. Hermione was in ecstasy as each of his kisses came down to her lips. Because her hands were trapped between their bodies, she tried to wiggle them free. Once they were free, the only place she could grab onto was the hem of his shirt. She was tugging and lifting on the fabric as he moved his tongue over her soft lips.

"Careful," Cormac said sitting up on his knees for a moment. Hermione released his shirt. It was looking a little looser than normal, "Did you stretch this?" he said looking at the slight damage that she had done.

"Sorry," Hermione said a little ashamed.

"It's fine," Cormac said taking the hem of his shirt in his own hands and popping his shirt off over his head. Hermione didn't have the best view of his body, because they were still in the darkness, but there was enough moonlight to leave Hermione impressed. Cormac flicked his shirt to the floor and went back down to kiss her.

Hermione was feeling antsy below him and she didn't know what took over her. She attempted to roll to her side, but found resistance. Cormac wasn't fighting her, but he was just too big for her to move. After a second, he understood her request and scooped a hand under her waist and pulled her up as he rolled underneath her.

Cormac was flat on his back and Hermione had to spread her knees on either side of his waist to rest comfortably on top of him. Hermione's hands found the area of skin just under his chest muscles and his upper abs. She was alternating from digging into his skin and placing small circles on him. It felt incredible. Cormac had his hands on Hermione's thighs and was pushing against her skin and was trying to get a good hold at the same time.

With Cormac slowly pushing and pulling on Hermione's legs, she found herself rocking against his groin. When she began to feel him stiffen under her, she was not surprised and mildly pleased with herself. For one second, she paused as she felt him harden under her, because it took her a moment to register what was happening, but she happily went back down to place more kisses on him. This time she went to kiss him on his neck. From there, she went down and found his collarbone. All the while, Cormac moved his hands from her thighs and took her shirt in his hands. This had gone unnoticed by Hermione. After Cormac had his fill of kisses that weren't on his lips, he pulled Hermione back up to him by her shirt. Lifting her shirt up and exposing the skin on her sides, Cormac couldn't control himself any longer. With a lot of strength but very little effort, Cormac posted one hand behind him as he propped himself up into a seated position.

Hermione was still in his lap, with her knees on either side of him and her hands looped around his neck. Again, she let a slight giggle escape her lips. Cormac locked his hands behind Hermione for a brief moment before he started to lift her shirt up and over her head. There was no sign of Hermione wanting him to stop. She was the one that separated their lips so that Cormac could lift the shirt all the way off of her head.

Hermione was wearing a brightly patterned sports bra. Even in the lack of light, the colors almost glowed.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Cormac questioned.

From his lap, Hermione nodded.

"This may be the last time I can stop myself and ask," he warned her.

Hermione looped her arms around his neck again and kissed him.

A new switch flicked on in Cormac's brain. Immediately, he moved his hands to the fabric hiding Hermione's chest and dug his hands under the material and lifted it up and tried to free her. She didn't stop him. She lifted her arms up and allowed him to toss the garment on the floor. Cormac didn't stop everything and stare at her bare chest. On the contrary, he went right back to kissing her. A thousand things were going through Hermione's mind, but that was one thing that stood out.

Still switched on to his animalistic side, Cormac bounced gently on the bed and was able to maneuver Hermione onto her back now with him on top of her. He still kissed her just as passionately as before, but now his hands were looking to discover every inch of her exposed body. He was raking over her flat stomach, and against her delicate ribs. He never made a move only aimed at her breasts. Every touch was targeted to give her pleasure from the way he touched her and from the way he was saving touching her in other ways.

Hermione went to pull on the muscles of his back as she went to place her tongue back in his mouth. Cormac allowed it and pulled back on her hair again in a tough, but sensual way. Hermione groaned in excitement.

After this moan of approval, Cormac made his first movements to Hermione's chest. With his left hand, he cupped her and massaged her flesh, while he took his mouth to the other side. He was working from three different angles. Cormac was displaying his dominance while he continued to pull Hermione's hair, he massaged one of Hermione's breasts with his hand and he hungrily had one of her nipples in his mouth.

Hermione arched her back, because that was all she could do with the new sensations rushing over her. She reached up with one hand and tried to pull on his hair, but she was too overloaded with sensations to get a real grab on him.

When Cormac decided that he had finished attacking her chest, he slid back up and hovered over her face. She had a look of pure glee etched across her. Cormac smiled down on her and brushed some hair out of her face.

"You're so beautiful," Cormac said not looking away from her eyes.

Hermione turned her head away from him, too shy to say anything back.

"Come back here," Cormac said placing one hand on her face and kissing her just how she wanted to be kissed in that moment. It was a nice kiss, without any tongue and just the right amount of pressure, but it was interrupted when Hermione felt Cormac's hand slide from her thigh to between her legs, but over her shorts.

This was the first time since her fourth year when a boy tried to touch her down there. Even though Hermione was only fourteen, she had allowed Viktor some pleasurable time. Hermione wasn't sure how to proceed from the flat of her back, before Krum would take Hermione to a quiet stack in a vacant corner of the library. Here there was much more freedom.

Hermione didn't have much time to think or debate what to do next, because in a very coordinated movement, Cormac brought his hand up to Hermione's trim stomach, down her waistband and to her softest skin. Immediately, Hermione knew she was going to have a much better time. Cormac's hands were delicate, but touching in all the right places.

To start he just rubbed the outside of her most intimate place. With a pair of fingers, he worked around her in larger circles. He continued to kiss her and left his other hand caressing her cheek. Hermione was in blissful happiness with each touch he made.

After an undisclosed amount of time, Cormac's fingers moved to penetrate her. There was no more blood flowing to his brain. In order to be a gentleman, he would've preferred if he had asked if she was ok, but that time was long gone.

As Cormac pushed his fingers into her, he dropped his lips to Hermione's neck and did everything in his powers to make her feel good. Hermione closed her eyes and allowed the waves of pleasure that Cormac was bringing her to consume her. It could've been fifteen seconds or twenty minutes, but Hermione could feel a sensation of pure bliss come over her. It felt like it was building from her stomach and between her legs. Her breathing started to get faster, and Cormac knew what was coming.

He ceased kissing her and put all of his focus in his hands. The pleasure exploded from Hermione's core and shook her entire body. For ten seconds, nothing but the greatest feelings rushed through her legs and up to her brain. Cormac didn't stop touching her, but slowed.

"Oh my god," Hermione said once she had caught her breath.

Cormac removed his fingers from inside her and went back to kiss her on the lips.

"Did you like that?" he said with a smug sense of accomplishment.

Hermione didn't even care. She bit her lip and nodded in the darkness.

Cormac went back to kissing her and placed a hand down on her most sensitive bud. Cormac knew he was doing a good job when Hermione's breathing got raspy again. He knew that she was orgasming for a second time once she stopped kissing him back and reached out to grip her bed covers. Cormac allowed her to come back down from her high briefly, only to build her up and push her over the edge for a third time.

At this point, Hermione was sweating and panting. The friction of their bodies rubbing against each other was heating them. Cormac's weight on top of her was adding a layer of insulation. And Hermione's multiple waves of orgasms left her feeling alive, but slightly exhausted.

Cormac was still teasing her most sensitive spot and ready to go again, but Hermione literally reach down to stop him.

"It's your turn," Hermione said feeling light-headed from her drinks and overload of pleasure chemicals.

"I like the sound of that," Cormac said removing his hand from her shorts and pulling her to a seated position.

In a quick flurry of movement, Cormac was back underneath her. From here, Hermione was feeling daring. She removed her weight from his lap and worked to remove his athletic shorts. She left his underwear on, but pulled the outer layer off over his ankles before she tossed them on the floor. His hardness was apparent through only one layer.

Hermione wasn't a complete prude and was familiar with the male anatomy and had partaken in this act before, but she was far from experienced. Hermione tried her best to be sexy and tried to sit in Cormac's lap. He was still sitting upright. She moved to go back to kissing him and placed her hand between their bodies. She moved her hand under his waistband and found what she was looking for.

At her first touch, she was intimidated. She couldn't see because the room was still in darkness, but using her sense of feel, she was feeling a little apprehensive. Hermione took a grip that was comfortable and did what she was expecting herself to do.

She took Cormac's length in a soft grip and moved her hand up and down on him. Cormac kept one hand firmly behind him to keep the pair of them anchored up, but his other hand went to her chest and he massaged her while she stroked him.

Hermione was shoving her tongue into his mouth and he allowed her to. It wasn't much longer until Hermione could sense something was going to happen. Cormac was losing his ability to kiss her with the same passion and his breathing was picking up.

Hermione's shoulder was beginning to tire, but she seemed to realize that the end was almost near. She speeded up the pace that her hand was working. Cormac couldn't take anymore.

"Hermione, put your mouth on it," was his last plead, but Hermione didn't move fast enough and she didn't really want to.

Cormac moved his underwear at the last second so that he didn't make a mess in them. Unfortunately, the mess landed on his lower abs leading to his spent member.

Cormac had his wave of pleasure chemicals rush to his brain. He pulled Hermione to his lips from around the back of her neck and gave her a kiss that informed her that he appreciated her efforts. Easily, he bucked Hermione off of his lap and onto her side. He stood up and slightly leaning back, made his way to the bathroom to clean himself.

"We can continue as soon as I get back," he said facing the other way as he approached the bathroom.

Hermione yawned and made a sound that sounded like an affirmative noise. She was facing away from the bathroom lights and was still curled up on her side.

Cormac cleaned himself with the toilet tissue and a little bit of water, before he returned to the bathroom with what he assumed was a second wind. He wasn't gone for more than thirty seconds.

"Ready?" he said with his half-limp member prevalent through his underwear.

Hermione didn't stir. Cormac tilted his head back in disappointment and groaned.

The slight groan he let out did wake her. She rolled toward him, and the light from the bathroom was still on.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she said shielding her eyes with one hand and reaching out to him with the other.

He had never seen something so pathetically cute in his life. He flicked the light switch off as he exited. Next, he approached the bed, and helped pull the covers back so that Hermione could crawl under them. Gratefully, she nuzzled into herself to get comfortable again. Cormac slid into the space behind her. He wrapped an arm around her and found one of her hands. With his other hand he did his best to remove her hair from his face.

Hermione startled Cormac when she leaned back toward him quickly, "No I told you, I'm ready!" Her voice sounded three-quarters sleepy.

"Shhh. Just go to sleep, Hermione," Cormac said helping her roll back over onto her side. He kissed the back of her head, closed his eyes, and for the second night in a row, missed out on his own bed.

**A/N: Hope you're happy with how that turned out!**

**jrb2009**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Happy Saturday! Let's bring it back to something sweet.**

**Chapter 15**

The alarm blared. Hermione's head felt groggier than it did on most mornings. She found out that she had a headache when she rolled over to shut off the alarm. The task of shutting the alarm off was more daunting than normal. This morning she needed to climb over the top of Cormac.

Cormac groaned from being woken up so early, and he groaned again when Hermione worked her way over the top of him to flip the correct switch that shut off the noise. The moment that Hermione had made it stop, she was locked up in Cormac's arms.

"Good morning," he said pulling her down roughly for a kiss.

Hermione smiled, because he was cute, but then she winced from her head pain, and lastly, grimaced, "You have horrible morning breath!"

Cormac released her and went to test his breath. Hermione watched him topless as he forced his breath against his own hand.

Noticing that Cormac didn't have a shirt on, made Hermione hyperaware that she also didn't have a top. She squeaked and grabbed the nearest pillow to cover herself.

"Oh come on," Cormac said, "I've already seen them. What is the point of covering up?"

"I'm a lady, Cormac," she said still leaving the pillow attached to her chest.

"Yes you are," he said trying not to upset her this early in the morning, "Ok, I need to shower and change before I bring the campers to breakfast."

"Ok," Hermione said sliding off the bed and onto her feet.

"Ok," Cormac said smiling at her as he also stood up on the same side of the bed as her, "I had fun last night. I'll see you in a bit." He spanked her delicately on her bottom and jumped away before she could swing the pillow at him.

With a snicker and a wave, he was outside her room. Hermione's eyes followed him until the door closed behind him. Incredibly pleased with herself and Cormac, Hermione did her best to retrieve the pieces of the puzzle that was the night before. She didn't have the time to devote a proper retrieval, because her second alarm that was set to wake her up if she failed to wake up at her first sounded.

She crossed the short distance to the clock, flipped the correct switch, and quickly undressed and headed to the shower.

Her shower was the shortest she had ever had, she felt rushed for time. She did her best to modify her usual routine, but she didn't last longer than two minutes, which worked out in her favor. By the time she was pulling her staff shirt over her head, the bedside clock read 6:50. She reached in the back of her dresser and grabbed a pair of cheap sunglasses and ran to the Lady Otters' cabin.

When she burst through the door, all the campers' clocks still read 6:50 - perfectly punctual. For day 2 of camp, Hermione's campers seemed pretty chipper for before seven AM. Hermione rallied her metaphorical troops and led them to the cafeteria.

The girls walked through the doors at seven sharp, and was were only one more cabin present. Hermione asked one of her younger campers who had their schedule in her hand to take a look. Breakfast was scheduled from 7:00-8:00AM, but what Hermione didn't remember was that most counselors brought their cabins for the last twenty minutes, because camp began shortly after breakfast.

Hermione owned up to her mistake, and confessed to her campers that she had forgotten the rule of thumb for showing up at 7:40 – a trick that Nicky had taught Hermione and Naomi plenty of times, but in her non-typical evening and morning, she had neglected to remember. Then she started thinking about the evening she had with Cormac. She was starting to feel warm where she was standing.

"Counselor Hermione," one of the smallest girls said tugging on Hermione's shirt.

"Yes, Sweetie? And you can just call me Hermione," she said to the little one, being snapped out of her daydream.

"Can we go eat?" the Lady Otter asked in a high pitched voice.

"Yeah, go ahead," Hermione said swallowing. All of her girls seemed to catch her in her daydream.

The catering service had produced a stellar set of food. Pancakes, sausages, bacon, different hashes, fresh fruits, yogurts and all other things that one would associate with the first meal of the day were waiting to be transferred to plates.

Unfortunately, Hermione and her group had finished their meals and put away their dishes before the next cabin had arrived. She had a real task on her hands to distract them, but she managed, and not long after the whole cafeteria was full.

A pair of hands appeared on Hermione's shoulders, "Good morning, girls." Naomi addressed the Lady Otters as a whole.

The campers replied to Naomi, but then she whispered down in her ear, "And how was your night?"

Hermione couldn't keep the smile off her face. She was much more private than Naomi and wanted to keep as much of the details from her friend as possible, but her face said it all.

Hermione did her best to be nonchalant, "It was fine." Again, her wide smile gave her away.

"I'm going to hear all about it in Arts and Crafts!" Naomi said turning to join her Vixens in line for breakfast.

Once the cafeteria was full of screaming children, Hermione realized that she was a little more hungover than she thought. Relief came for her eventually, but after the bullhorn alarm sounded. Mr. Craig's voice came over all the noise in the room, and everyone quieted.

"Good Morning Camp, Craig!" he started, and the campers responded, "On to the first period of the day!"

Chairs squeaked against the floor as eager campers made the dash to the counselors they knew they had the first period with.

"Swimming!" Hermione heard a voice from a corner. She had her first period by the lake. Hermione made her way toward Eric Forester.

"Good morning," Hermione said helping Eric get a head count.

"Hi, Hermione," Eric said trying to shepherd the kids he had already acquired out the doors of the cafeteria.

After the long walk back toward where the docks and canoes were, Eric immediately took over to Hermione's delight. He started going over the safety rules of swimming in the lake.

"I know it's cold first thing in the morning, but it's fun. I see that some of you don't believe me, but there are fishing poles and nets over there," he pointed, "If you are going to fish, do it far from where the swimmers are."

A very prissy boy raised his hand and asked, "Is anything going to bite us if we swim?"

"Good question," Eric responded, "The only thing that can bite you is a fish called a Pike, but they don't normally bite people, and only the little ones would be dumb enough to try. They're more scared of you than you are of them." That wasn't entirely true, but if Eric had a group of swimmers terrified of a made up JAWS Pike, he would be out of a job.

His words didn't seem to instill faith in the children. Most of them made their ways to the fishing equipment or started examining the shallowest parts of the lake.

After trying to coax them into swimming, he needed to demonstrate. "Fine. If you don't believe me, watch me." He took his shirt off and walked to the edge of the dock that was built for jumping into the water. He fell in with both his feet and when he bobbed back up, he swore under his breath because it was so cold.

Some of the campers looked terrified.

"Nothing bit me. It's just cold," he took in a deep breath, "I promise, you get used to it." He exhaled sharply.

He needed to tread water for twenty minutes until a very brave little girl agreed to jump in. The girl whispered to Hermione that she wanted to try.

Hermione was enjoying sitting on the edge of the dock talking with Eric while she dangled her feet in the water. She continually needed to check out of the corner of her eye as campers were flinging stray fishing line around each other, but Eric did a fair job explaining the proper casting technique and protocol.

When the little girl approached Hermione, she had taken her top and bottom off and was in her one-piece bathing suit. In her hand was her towel, "Hermione, can I try to jump in?"

The child actually startled Hermione, "Oh, are you sure?" She asked the little girl, because the session was almost over and no one seemed interested in the water.

The little one nodded with confidence, "Swimming is my favourite."

"That's great," Hermione was amazed to see the girl that seemed so sure. Next, she turned to Eric, "Hey, we have a taker." She pointed to the little swimmer.

Eric had drastically warmed up. He was swimming around like a fish in a new clean bowl. He was pushed over the edge with excitement when he saw the little girl ready to jump in. Eric treaded water toward her and extended his arms out for her to jump to him. Hermione took her towel and laughed as the girl made her run and jump.

Eric was forced to shield his face from the slight wave the little girl pushed toward him, but he was happy just the same. Hermione smiled at the interaction and the smile of the child's face and the smile on Eric's face. That is why she wanted to come back to be a counselor at Camp Craig.

The girl's name turned out to be Amy. Amy had a few more jumps until Eric's wristwatch started to beep.

"Ok everyone, start to put the fishing things back where you found them. It's almost time for the next period," he still had Amy in his arms and swam her back to the docks, where Hermione helped lift her out of the water.

Eric grabbed the edge where Hermione used to be sitting and hoisted himself with great effort out of the water and onto the dock. They rounded up their campers and led the march to the dining hall.

Everyone assembled into the seats before Mrs. Craig dismissed everyone to the second session of the day. As Hermione moved to the corner of the room that was designated for Arts and Crafts, Hermione crossed paths with Cormac.

He caught her eye and smiled, "Hey." Dozens of campers were moving around them.

"Hi," she said brushing some hair behind her ear.

"How was the lake?" Cormac asked her.

"It was fine. How'd you know I was there?" Hermione questioned.

"I just know these things," he said ominously.

"Where were you? Why are you so sweaty?" she noticed that he had some wet spots on his staff shirt.

"We had a good session at the Basketball clinic," Cormac said still smiling, "I was a little hungover, but I think I sweat it all out."

"Well that's good," Hermione reasoned. She didn't know what else to say but she was enjoying looking at him.

Cormac placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a small chuckle, "I'll see you in a bit." He winked and went to join Gary and Ross, the Otter's counselor.

Hermione joined Naomi in a corner collecting campers for Arts and Crafts. This was one of the most popular session, because the kids always liked to make things. More campers than normal were circling around them, Hermione was almost certain that Naomi and she would have a difficult time maintaining control with just the two of them.

"Are we ready?" a voice came from behind Hermione.

Bri started to lead the campers to the Arts and Crafts building. Still something about the beautiful blonde rubbed Hermione the wrong way, but she was in too good of spirits to let a 90 minute session with Briana Craig ruin her mood.

The trio of counselors led the campers to the destination and had everyone sit down. For the most part, Bri, Hermione, and Naomi all agreed that the session could be more of a free-for-all. They allowed the campers to use the time however they wanted. Some of the younger campers immediately went for markers and paper, other went for paints, but most wanted to learn the camp favourite craft of braiding friendship bracelets.

Fortunately, Hermione and Naomi had all the patterns memorized since they were eleven. They could make any pattern in their sleep. They showed the eager kids the basic ways to create the bracelets, and showed them where all the string was stored. While they idly twisted and tied their bracelets together, Naomi started asking Hermione for details about the night.

Hermione looked around and the three girls and one boy at their table were busied with the weaving of their yarn and couldn't be bothered. Everyone in the room seemed to be taking their time seriously; even Bri was hovered over a pair of eight year olds drawing pictures of their favourite activates from the previous day.

Hermione was much more private than Naomi and did her best to spare the intimate details.

"You know what happened when we were at Gary's cabin, but after you and Wayne ran for his shortcut – how was that by the way?" Hermione asked.

"Don't change the subject. I want to know what happened," Naomi said, trying to keep her voice down to avoid raising suspicions from anyone at her table.

"Sorry. Well we were walking across Lower Bridge," she paused, "and he kissed me."

Naomi smiled and nodded, as if she expected anything less, "And then?"

"Then we went to my cabin," how could she give just enough information, without giving too much information? "And he spent the night."

Naomi raised an eyebrow, "And did you only sleep?" she kept her voice down with the last word.

"No," Hermione drew out the word, "but, nothing like that."

That was all that Hermione wanted her to know. At least, that was all she wanted Naomi to know for the time being.

Hermione took one more look around to make sure that she wasn't overheard and all the campers seemed to be too pleased in their work to notice, and Bri had moved on to another group of campers.

By the end of the period, Hermione had received two friendship bracelets from a pair of the girls that were sitting at her table. Hermione had reciprocated the gesture, but she could turn a bracelet around quickly enough to make sure that she returned the favour and made it seem like a genuine gift rather than an afterthought.

Bri wrangled the campers up and asked everyone to put away their supplies. Once that was taken care of she led them back toward the dining hall.

"I may not like her, but you have to admit she is good," Naomi whispered to Hermione from the back of the group.

Hermione was thankful that she had Naomi as an ally, because she was feeling the same way. And that was just one more thing that Hermione began to feel self-conscious about compared to Bri. They spent the remainder of the walk telling each other why they seemed to be intimidated by Bri Craig.

By the time they reached the cafeteria, the girls had deducted that she was daunting for several reasons: she was beautiful, she was well-liked already, she was charismatic, she was confident, she was good with the campers, she was older, she was confident, she seemed intelligent, and she seemed to have a fairly good sense of humor.

"What a bitch," was all that Naomi could say before the last session before lunch split up.

Hermione laughed as she headed toward the corner that was heading to the Academic Building. Hermione was looking forward to this session and had a small lesson plan prepared. She was going to give the group of fifteen a quick lesson in static electricity. Once in the academic building, all the campers were given a composition notebook and waited to be taught. Hermione talked about the history of electricity, a little of the basics, and then went to her demonstration. With a few simple supplies, she was able to blow the campers away with her demonstration of making a piece of tissue paper that was shaped like a ghost come to life with a little static electricity from an inflated balloon and Ross's head.

Hermione explained what was happening, and then allowed the campers a chance to experiment themselves.

"Hermione, how'd you get that to happen?" One of the youngest campers, that had the entire conversation about static electricity go over his head.

"Magic!"

**A/N: A little pun to end the chapter :)**

**jrb2009**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Happy Memorial Day to anyone from the States, enjoy the day off tomorrow - if you got it off. I know some people in Europe have a bank holiday as well, so enjoy celebrating whatever is being celebrated. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 16**

Hermione led the group from the Academic Building back to the cafeteria for lunch. As soon as the first campers crossed through the doorway there was a mad dash to the soft drink fountains. The summer sun was starting to heat everyone up. Most of Hermione's campers had their fill of different drinks and were now piling into the line to accept hot food on their trays.

After Hermione had gone through the lunch line, she carried her tray to the cafeteria in search of somewhere to sit. She was excited to see that among the mass of people in the sitting area, she had several people begging for her attention. There was a group of her Lady Otters waving in her direction, some girls from her Arts and Crafts period from that morning were shuffling to make space for Hermione at her table, and as she swiveled her head from left to right she caught a pair of gorgeous brown eyes.

Cormac was looking back in Hermione's direction over his right shoulder. Once he knew that Hermione had locked onto his look, he donned a smile and flashed a wink in her direction. Hermione smiled shyly and decided to go join the group of campers that had created space for her.

Once lunch was finished, Hermione had the opportunity to join Nicky in the Academic Building for another session. This session was only sixty minutes long, so for simplicity of the timing, Hermione and Nicky decided to go with the same demonstration of static electricity that was such a hit before lunch. Nicky sat back in admiration to watch Hermione control the group and lead the class through her demonstration, which once again, turned out to be successful.

Next, Cormac and Hermione took a group to the tennis courts for the Tennis Clinic. With a little faith established in Hermione's abilities, Cormac deferred to her for the first half of the session. Hermione coached the campers through a review of the fundamentals again. Using a different drill than yesterday, she and Cormac fed balls for the campers to hit using the three different strokes they learned the day before and a new crowd favorite, the overhead slam. At the sign of the first water break, Cormac and Hermione dismissed them to the water fountain. Once everyone returned to the lines with their rackets in hand, Cormac took over with a new game. Again, this game had the campers practicing their strokes, but mostly had them running around having a good time.

"We make a pretty good team," Cormac said on the walk back to camp. He had one of the smallest campers attached to his back.

"Yeah. We aren't too bad," Hermione said holding another tiny camper's hand.

She had a proud smile while the kids all around her were raving about another great tennis session.

Again, once inside the cafeteria, the campers immediately ran for the soft drink fountains and were filling cups with whatever their hearts desired. The coolest thing to do was to take a cup under each of the spigots and pour a little bit of everything in a cup. The counselors couldn't see the point of the exercise, but the campers all swore by the drink.

"See you in a bit, Hermione," Cormac said while he allowed the tiny girl to dismount his back.

Hermione didn't say anything back to him. She just smiled and nodded.

For the last session of the day, Hermione and Naomi took the Cooking class to the other side of the cafeteria and started by showing the campers how to create their own pretzel dough. Hermione and Naomi rolled it out to the perfect size, shaped it in a traditional pretzel shape, braided a few lines of the dough, and created some funkier designed to the campers' delight. Once they had baked the pretzels Hermione and Naomi covered them with different toppings. There was simple sea salt, powdered sugar, cinnamon-sugar and chocolate were what the girls used.

Once the campers confirmed that they understood what there were going to try to be doing, they rushed into the assignment. By the end of the ninety minute period there were much better results than the burnt cake disaster from the previous day. Again, the counselors handed the campers paper plates to distribute their creations to their friends back in the cabins.

After everyone was brought back to the amphitheater, Mr. Craig deemed it a successful first full day of camp and dismissed everyone for the first thirty minutes of free time. Hermione retreated to the camp store with her best friend and without being told, she assumed the post of working the blenders. As the first order for a milkshake came her way, she really hoped that she hadn't pigeonholed herself as the milkshake girl.

Dinner was eventless. And for the second section of free time, Hermione and Gary worked in the back with Eric got a chance to use the register. Hermione was jealous to see that Cormac was on the other side of the camp store batting away challengers in table tennis. She wasn't sure if her pangs of jealousy were brought on by seeing Cormac interact with the campers or by seeing the campers have the chance to interact with Cormac. Currently, Cormac was talking trash to Dayton as he made the boy run around the table to retrieve his shots. Cormac was actually making the boy sweat, but Dayton was loving every bit of it.

Eventually, Cormac began to feel bad for the boy. He walked to the front of the line and caught Hermione between whirrings of the blender.

"Granger, can you get me a water for Dayton please?" Cormac asked in a falsely charming tone.

From where he was standing he could reach the cooler where the water was himself, so Hermione was confused why he needed to ask. She walked over to the cooler, but before she acted, she looked over her shoulder to the Head Counselor.

"Gary?" Hermione asked, unsure if this was ethical or not.

"You know the rules, Cormac," Gary said twirling around grabbing some candy fish and kettle corn.

Hermione stepped away from the cooler because she didn't want to appear the bad guy.

"It's fine, Gar. It's me," Cormac said reaching down and pulling out a water bottle without permission.

Hermione shook her head at Cormac, but had a wide smile on her face.

Cormac smiled back and went to the play more table tennis. From his side of the surface, he tossed the water bottle to his mini protégé and gave him a chance to hydrate.

All of Hermione's Lady Otters had no problem getting their teeth brushed and into their pajamas. In a very good mood, she headed over to the amphitheater for the end of the day wrap up with the rest of the staff. Again the meeting was short. Some people called out some campers that seemed prone to cause trouble, some other campers that people suggested be separated because of one reason or another, and Mr. Craig informed the group that a heat wave was being predicted for later the next week. He assured them it wasn't anything to worry about right now, but with the topic of heat, he wanted to remind his staff to encourage the kids to drink as much as possible.

Mr. Craig dismissed the staff for a little bit of free time before checking on final lights out. There was a very tired feel among all the counselors. Their stamina had not yet built up for the long days in the sun, or running around with the campers yet and after the first full day their exhaustion was coming to the foreground.

A large group formed that was heading for Lower Bridge. Gary and Nicky were off to their cabins, while the rest of the counselors made their way to the bonfire. There were some embers still glowing in the depths of the fire pit and everyone took a seat on the different oak flat benches.

The benches were designed to fit two to a seat, but most people looked to spread out alone. Some sat on the stones surrounding the fire pit, others took refuge on the floor. Wayne was trying to spread out on a bench by himself, but Naomi joined him. She plopped down next to him and rested her head on his left shoulder. Hermione circled to the other side and did the same on his right shoulder.

The counselors did their best to keep their conversations quiet so they wouldn't disturb the campers and keep them awake, but mostly they were too tired to strike up an overly exciting conversation.

"I'm going to sleep well tonight," Wayne said with a large yawn.

"Why are we so tired? They're just kids," Hermione said closing her eyes against Wayne's shoulder.

"I don't have the energy to get up off this bench – ever," Naomi said dramatically, "Just leave me here to die."

"Only if you kill me too," Wayne responded.

"Aw, like a Romeo and Juliet way?" Naomi asked. Wayne looked down at her with a confused look, "You'd rather die than live without me, because you love me?"

"No," he said bluntly. Anyone that was around and overheard the conversation laughed except for Naomi, "I'm just that tired." Naomi struck him hard in the gut, and Wayne had to lean forward to flex and protect himself. That jostled Hermione's head off his shoulder. She whined.

The counselors of the Beavers and Ducks stood up first and bid everyone a goodnight. They had the farthest walk to reach their cabins. Next, the Hornets and Eagles had to check on their campers. The Foxes and Squirrels left shortly after. And the Hares and Otters stood up to make sure everyone was asleep, but from where they were sitting at the bonfire they could see none of the lights in their cabins were on.

"Walk you to your cabin?" this saying was beginning to become Cormac's catchphrase.

Hermione was just beginning to stand up and nodded.

Cormac took in a big yawn, and it forced Hermione to mimic him.

Hermione tried to politely cover her mouth and said, "Excuse me."

After watching Hermione yawn, he was forced to yawn for a second time.

"Yeah, we are tired. Let's go," she said allowing him to walk by her side to her cabin.

Hermione was ready to fall asleep on her feet. She couldn't be happier when she reached the steps of her cabin. She started to take the first two steps and was surprised when Cormac stopped following her. She wasn't expecting him to come into her cabin, but at least walk her all the way to the door. She looked back at him and he already had his response.

"If I climb up these stairs, I'm going to force myself in and crash on your bed. And I think for at least one night I need to sleep in my own bed," was his reply to her look.

If Hermione had had the energy, she would've laughed, but she just smiled.

"Goodnight, Hermione," he said with a winning smile that required no effort on his part.

"Goodnight, Cormac," she responded reaching for the doorknob and stepping into her cabin.

Tuesday went on much like Monday, but Hermione didn't see as much of Cormac, which disappointed her. They did have tennis together, but other than that he seemed to be a ghost. Wednesday was a little better, because periodically throughout the day when the whole group was assembled he would whisper a hello in her ear or graze a shoulder or behind her back in passing before flashing a smile in her direction. Thursday was like Tuesday in terms of Hermione being able to see Cormac around camp, but she was beginning to hit her stride as a counselor. Several of her Otters had taken a serious liking to her and she was developing her favorites. Friday morning was her first chance to see the athletic fields for a session in her Camp Craig career. A beautiful morning deterred several campers from wanting to go inside for Arts &amp; Crafts and a few of the usual girls from Hermione's second period seemed to fancy some of the boys in the football period.

Gary approached Mr. Craig after the bullhorn went off and the campers had decided which periods they wanted to take part in.

"I don't think we have enough counselors for the Football Clinic," Gary said taking a quick head count, but it was difficult because there were so many campers and none of them would stand still.

Mr. Craig peered around the room quickly and saw that numbers seemed to be down for the Arts and Crafts crew. Naomi and Bri were in the front of the line of a handful of campers and Hermione was trailing behind.

"Hermione!" Mr. Craig said wagging his finger toward her to beckon her over.

"Yes?" she said looking over her shoulder to make sure the group she just left didn't get too far.

"I'm going to need you to be flexible and help with the Football Clinic. Can you do that for me?" Mr. Craig offered the request as a question, but there was no way for her to say no.

Hermione had an mildly thin/athletic build but that was all a façade. She would be the first to admit it, but she was certain that she didn't have an overly athletic bone in her body.

"Whatever you need, Mr. Craig," she said with a chipper tone.

"That's a good girl," he said patting her on the arm, before he turned to Gary, "Now you should have the numbers."

Gary nodded, waved for Hermione to follow him, and she headed toward the fields with the large group.

Hermione had always heard that Cormac was a wonderful counselor across all of his periods and the kids loved the clinics, but after fifteen minutes into the Football Clinic, Hermione couldn't understand why. She idly sat on the side, refusing to sweat and make a fool of herself, but as she watched, she couldn't help but think that Cormac was playing too competitively. He was dribbling around the campers with no thought of their perceived levels of fun, and if his team didn't have the ball, he had no problem nicking the ball right from underneath someone's foot. Hermione was amazed while his team ran the score up on their opponents. At the first water break, Hermione approached him.

"Cormac, don't you think you're playing a little too hard?" she questioned.

"Yes, but no," Cormac said with sweat appearing around his neck, under his arms and down his back. He took a big sip of water, "Tomorrow is the Camp Cup. I need to be sharp." Hermione noticed that he said _I_ rather than _We_.

"Camp is for the campers, Cormac," Hermione tried to remind him.

"Yeah, but the Camp Cup is for me. Not Ryan Craig," Cormac told her trotting back to the pitch. He dismissed the group from their water break and told everyone to get on the field.

For the Camp Cup, there were several competitions throughout the day; arguably the most important competitions were the two football matches. There was one that was designated only for campers where the counselors could coach. Like most of the Camp Cup events, the winners would earn 2 points for their respective camp. The last event of the day, where everyone would meet at the football fields, either Camp Craig or Camp Adventure, depending on whose turn it was to host, was between the best players from each camp, campers and counselors. This event was worth five points – the most out of any event. The competitions would change slightly through the weeks, but the football matches were always a constant.

Most people seemed to be frustrated with the session, but there was a group of eight or nine that seemed to be pleased with how Cormac was playing.

Hermione couldn't stand around and watch any longer.

"Cormac, come over here!" she said almost stamping her foot on the ground.

His eyes had a look of annoyance, but he jogged her way.

"The kids aren't having fun," she said to him plainly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't matter. We need to win the Camp Cup." He said this as if it were the only obvious answer.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "This needs to change."

"Well it's not my fault most of them can't keep up," he said looking over his shoulder anxiously to get back to playing.

"You're going about this all wrong," Hermione said.

"I'm just trying to get ready for tomorrow," he said done with the conversation. "Alright, let's separate the teams," Cormac called to the crowd once he turned around, and there seemed to be a defeated sense among most of the campers.

Hermione interrupted him, "Anyone that thinks Cormac is playing too hard come over here and we can play our own game."

A lot of the campers looked warily in Hermione's direction. Most of them were a little scared to step toward her rather than stay with Cormac in his intense state. It took one very brave Lady Otter to step to her counselor. Once the first sacrificial lamb stepped forward and wasn't slaughtered by Cormac, the majority followed. Hermione gave Cormac a proud smile.

"Fine," Cormac said rallying his troops. Hermione had done him a favor in his head. Now he was left with his All-Stars.

Cormac, Gary, Ross, Dayton, a few older boys and a pair of older girls stuck around. The small group of serious players proceeded to one goal on the pitch, while Hermione took the majority of the session to the other side of the field. Hermione knew very little about sports. She knew a handful of things about tennis, but she knew next to nothing about football.

Cormac and Gary were running the group that would represent Camp Craig in the Camp Cup through different drills. Gary was running through a drill that required the players to pass the ball, run to a cone, and receive a pass at full speed. Cormac had Dayton and they were standing outside the penalty box and were shooting on the goal. They had plastic training mannequins that stood like a wall offering what Hermione assumed was a very difficult angle. Cormac was coaching Dayton on how to shoot the ball. Every time Dayton would miss, Cormac would correct him, and demonstrate to perfection with his own technique. Hermione was watching out of the corner of her eye and even she had to admit that she was impressed. Even though Cormac was better, understandably so since he was several years older, Dayton held his own and made a lot more than he missed.

Hermione's side of the field was using the space in a more carefree manner. Several campers created imaginary lines and tried to make their own game, but the practice dissolved when too many people attempted to be referees, another group was throwing the ball in the air with their hands and counting how many times they could clap their hands and catch it before the ball hit the floor, and another group were lounging on the grass enjoying the beautiful day identifying different cloud shapes.

Hermione was enjoying taking part in the clapping game, before her attention was snapped to the other side of the field.

"Dayton," it sounded like Cormac was pleading with him, "It's not that difficult. Put the ball down." He dropped the ball and took a few steps back, "Take a breath." Cormac exhaled all the air in his lungs. "Approach." He took a few steps toward the ball and planted his left foot firmly. "And hit." He said as he swung through the ball. The ball seemed to be enchanted as it moved in three different planes of direction over its flight, before it tucked just under the crossbar.

"Ok everyone, water break," Hermione shouted at the top of her lungs.

Hermione's set of campers merrily trotted to the water jugs and filled paper cups full. Cormac and Gary's group seemed a little more ragged.

"Cormac," Hermione half-hushed, half-shouted, "you need to take it easy on them! This isn't some professional team that needs to be perfect! They're kids!"

"But the…" he didn't get the chance to finish.

"Fuck the Camp Cup," she was being stern for the first time since she held the position of counselor.

Cormac's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Fuck the Camp Cup," her tone came back down. She even startled herself with her sternness, "At the end of the day, it's just a game." Her voice was completely calm by this point.

Cormac wanted to tell her that she didn't understand. She didn't understand his competitive nature. She didn't understand how responsible he felt for winning every point he could for Camp Craig. And she really didn't understand how much he hated losing when Ryan Craig was on the other team.

He was going to say something back at her to defend himself, but he had a realization. Looking at her like this showed him something. He hated seeing her loathe him more than all those other things combined.

**A/N: Ok everyone, there are five days in a row with new chapters! I hope you like this one. I need to get on the phone with China right now for a meeting. I was working hard to edit this chapter before my evening meeting :)**

**jrb2009**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I know this isn't the normal time I go around posting chapters, but today is going to be busy! Enjoy.**

**Chapter 17**

Cormac took a deep breath. He needed to do that for several reasons. He needed to clear his head. He needed to calm himself. And he needed to prepare himself for something that would really hurt.

"You're right. I'm sorry," he hung his head in temporary shame.

"Thank you," Hermione said surprised that she somehow breached Cormac's hard competitive shell, "but I don't need to hear an apology."

Hermione looked over Cormac's shoulder, and Dayton was already back on the field with a number of balls lined up from where Cormac and he were shooting. He was missing and getting overly frustrated with himself.

Cormac nodded at Hermione, put a hand on her shoulder, opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't find the right thing to say.

Hermione couldn't hear, but she watched as Cormac approached Dayton for what she assumed was an apology. Hermione didn't have any brothers or sisters and she didn't even know if Cormac did, but Cormac ruffled the boy's hair and half embraced him like Hermione assumed a big brother would do.

Cormac did his best to drag Dayton away from the shooting drill and scooped a ball with his foot in Dayton's direction. The pair of them used all their skills and tricks in their repertoire to keep the ball in the air.

People that were still enjoying their water break were now watching the pair of them. The two of them were using different parts of their bodies, different parts of their feet and showing off in every way they could to the crowd's delight. The ball remained in the air for ten minutes until Cormac mistouched the ball and it trickled out of his control. Everyone clapped and people quickly swarmed Dayton to ask him to teach them a move or two. He was immediately boosted to Rockstar-status.

Cormac approached the group that was surrounding Dayton and he tossed the ball in the boy's direction.

"Go ahead, Superstar, show them something," Dayton caught the ball with his hands and tried to teach something "simple".

Cormac continued walking until he was standing side-by-side with Hermione.

"You're a good counselor, Cormac," Hermione said with her hands folded across her chest.

"You are something else too, Granger," Cormac said gently leaning his body shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

Hermione smiled and looked up at him.

"Not only are you good with the kids, but you can even counsel someone as thick headed as me," he grinned at her.

"You're not that thickheaded," Hermione said bumping his hip with hers.

Cormac was unprepared for this and needed to step to the side with his outside foot and braced himself by reaching out around Hermione's waist. That was a touch that Hermione hasn't realized she missed. They held an electric amount of eye contact.

"You know I've kind of missed you these past couple of days," Cormac confessed to her.

Hearing that caused Hermione to blush and she shied away from his stare.

"I need to see some more of you," Cormac said moving his head so that he could look her in the eyes.

Hermione couldn't keep a silly grin off of her face. She was feeling too embarrassed to say anything so she just nodded.

Cormac worked to straighten back up to his full height from being hunched over to look at her in the eyes. Hermione didn't know if it was by accident or by design but as he stood straight up his lips came in contact with her forehead for a moment.

"Alright! That's enough!" Gary's voice boomed over the pitch.

Cormac and Hermione immediately separated and turned to look in the direction of the voice.

To their relief, Gary seemed to be speaking to the campers, especially the group that was attempting some sort of juggling routine that Dayton choreographed.

"Let's pack it up and head back to camp," Gary said to clarify once the campers didn't understand what he was saying.

Once Cormac and Hermione were certain that their interaction wasn't noticed by anyone, they chanced a look out of the corner of their eyes and smiled.

"Alright, Dayton. That's enough," Cormac said helping Gary to rally the kids back to camp.

In the cafeteria, the counselors encouraged the kids to have as many liquids as possible. It was a pretty warm day and Cormac had some of them running around pretty hard. By the time the third session of the day started Hermione had already stood in the usual corner calling for campers going to the Academic Building.

Hermione was chatting with Haley discussing her idea for the session of the day when the last set of campers strolled up. Once they were ready to go, Hermione noticed that one person was missing. Ross was standing in the middle of the cafeteria having a conversation with Cormac.

Ross seemed to have a confused look on his face, but Cormac was waving him down. Before they went their separate way, Ross seemed to have a look of surprised contentment; however, he didn't walk toward the group heading to the Academic building, but toward the group going to the football pitch.

"Sorry," Cormac said noticing that he was the last person to show up, "Are we ready?"

Haley didn't wait for anyone to say anything, but just started to lead the campers to the other side of the campus. Haley took the lead, followed by the children, and Hermione and Cormac walked together in the rear.

Hermione was walking with a slightly smug expression on her face. Was Cormac willing to switch from the football session to come to the Academic Building to spend time with her? Cormac twisted his head to look in her direction and see how pleased she seemed. He hung his head down, shook it side to side slightly and did his best to keep his smile from showing up on his face. His attempt was useless.

"Cormac McLaggen, I thought we would never see you in the Ac Buil." She was so pleased with herself.

"Just don't make it a bigger deal than it is, Granger," Cormac said loving the way she was giving him attitude.

"Did you think you needed to use a little brains rather than brawn?" she was loving this.

"I was taking the Camp Cup too seriously, and not being a good counselor," he was slightly being honest, "I needed to remove myself from that, before I went too far. And what better way to make myself a little more boring, than spending ninety minutes in a classroom."

"This has nothing to do with you 'needing to see more of me'?" Hermione questioned.

Knowing that she was onto him, Cormac pretended to turn around and head back toward the cafeteria, "Well I guess I could go somewhere else," he was bluffing.

"Wait!" Hermione quickly turned and grabbed him at his elbow, but as he kept walking her hand slid down his arm until it reached his hand. She had both her hands wrapped around his left hand.

Both their eyes snapped down to their hands and then quickly to the other's eyes. Hermione released him, even though it felt like the wrong thing to do.

"Just don't make it a bigger deal than it is, McLaggen," Hermione said referring to their hand contact as she turned to continue to the session. Her smile couldn't get any bigger.

Cormac again put his head down with a grin stretching across his face. He quietly laughed to himself twice. He looked up to see how far Hermione had gotten from him, and jogged after her to join the rest of the group.

Hermione had everyone sit down and started the course.

"Ok, we are going to talk about waves," Hermione started. She asked some engaging questions to the group about who had been to the beach and who had ever seen the waves in the ocean.

"Who knows which directions waves travel in?" Hermione asked the group. When no one said anything, she clarified, "Do they move horizontally or vertically?" She showed the directions she meant with her hands.

Every one of the campers responded with the wrong answer.

"You would think that they move horizontally, but they actually go vertically," she clarified.

"Then why do waves head to the shore?" one very bright Lady Eagle asked.

"Well, there are different energies working in the horizontal direction. Like tides, the wind, and other things like that. But that's a very good point, Lily. Take a piece of candy from the jar," Hermione said holding out the tool that the counselors used to engage the campers in the Academic Building.

The campers still didn't seem to buy Hermione's explanation. Cormac chimed in.

"Have you ever watched a buoy in the ocean? Of course not, because you aren't crazy people or oceanographers," the 'students' laughed, "it just floats in the ocean going up and down and doesn't get pushed to shore, because the motion of the waves move it only up and down," he made airquotes and pointed to Hermione, "or 'vertically'," again the kids laughed.

Hermione looked impressed, "That's right, Cormac." She continued going through the lesson.

"Can anyone tell me what happens to create waves?" she directed at the crowd.

There was a more obvious answer that all the campers were eager to answer, with the reward of candy on their minds.

"The wind does create most of the waves that we see, but can anyone think of another force that creates waves?" Hermione asked.

She was amazed to hear someone say the answer, "Little earthquakes. Well sometimes, not so little earthquakes, too," Cormac said leaning back in his chair with both his feet up on the desk.

"That's right," Hermione said reaching behind her into the jar of candy and tossing a hard candy in Cormac's direction. With the skilled hands of a Quidditch Keeper, he snatched the misthrown sweet with no problem.

Everyone in the room looked back shocked to see Cormac was the one giving the correct response.

"What?!" Cormac said shrugging his shoulders toward the room at large, "I'm not just a dumb jock." His feelings seemed a little hurt.

Cormac kept his mouth shut for the rest of the session on waves, but his attention never wavered from Hermione.

Once the teaching portion was done, it was time for the hands-on experiment. Hermione requested a volunteer, hoping that Cormac would offer his services, but she was disappointed when he remained silent. He was sitting with his chair on all fours and his head in his hands looking in her direction, but she would've preferred if he had joined to assist her.

Hermione decided to pull Haley up to help her, and the pair of them showed the campers how to create their own environments that they could create waves in using, water, food dye, a large bottle, and hollow plastic balls.

Once everyone had their own bottle ocean and had been shown how the waves work, it was time for lunch. The counselors made sure that the trash was moved to the rubbish bins, and the room was tidy before retreating back to the cafeteria for the midday meal.

Again, Haley led the march, followed by the campers and Cormac and Hermione brought up the rear.

"That head isn't just a hat rack is it?" Hermione asked the boy to her side.

"Mrs. McLaggen didn't raise a fool," Cormac retorted to her, carrying his own bottled ocean.

"I never would've guessed," she responded.

"I like to fancy myself more of an athlete than an academic," he told her truthfully.

"But you seem to know a thing or two in the classroom, McLaggen."

His immediate reaction was to say, "Well I bet I could teach you a thing or two, Granger," with a sly smile and a wink, but he refrained. "Yeah, I pride myself on being brighter than your average ten year old," was his more conservative response.

"I'm not convinced you are that bright," she was obviously teasing him; "I'd say you were getting lucky."

This time he couldn't control himself, "Yeah, Granger? Am I getting lucky?"

Hermione gave him a stern look, and the look made it seem like she wasn't entertained. Truthfully, she was having fun with Cormac, but he misread her expression.

"I'm sorry," Cormac said hoping not to offend her.

"You better be," she returned, again she was joking, but Cormac couldn't sense her sarcasm. Hermione wasn't experienced in the art of playfully flirting with boys yet and hadn't refined her touch.

A little turned off by the interaction, Cormac quickened his pace and left Hermione's side. He caught up to one of his Hare's and threw the little boy up in the air and placed him on Cormac's shoulders while he walked back with him squealing with excitement all the way back to the cafeteria.

Hermione watched as he trotted along with the boy up on his shoulders. A flash of a dream world where she and Cormac wandered the corridors of Hogwarts together where they could sneak into hidden halls, or empty classrooms jumped in her head. She thought about the possibility of laying out on a hillside while he and his Seventh Year friends flew around on brooms, or about him kissing her on the cheek before depositing her outside of her classroom.

Robotically, Hermione was following the group staring at Cormac's back while she daydreamed, she hadn't noticed that the path was heading upward over Lower Bridge, and when she expected the path to remain flat, she jammed her foot when she didn't expect her step soon enough.

"Oof," she said, as she stumbled forward. She didn't crash all the way to the floor, but caught herself with her left hand. A sharp pain came over hand, but she was too worried that everyone had seen her. Her worry was reality.

"I'm fine," she said holding her palms up to everyone that had turned around trying to look composed. A few of the campers directed a grimace in Hermione's direction, and she thought that that was a harsh reaction to her tripping. Cormac was among the group of people that turned to look back at her. His eyes flew to Hermione's left hand and he quickly flipped his Hare on his shoulders to the ground gently.

Cormac covered the space between him and Hermione quickly and took her left hand in his. He had a worried look, but kept his tone calm, "How's your palm feel?"

"It hurts a little, but it's fine," Hermione said nonchalantly trying to turn her hand to look at it.

"Do you trust me?" he asked looking into her face.

She nodded. The curiosity was killing her.

"Then don't look at your hand," he said slowly lowering it to her side. She made a quick move to try to peek at it, but he was too strong and with his other hand, delicately but firmly moved her chin away from her hand and toward him, "Look at me."

She obeyed.

"Please keep looking at me," he said trying to look deeper into her eyes. Once he was certain that he had her attention, he shouted, "Haley, bring the campers to lunch, I'm going to bring Hermione to the Infirmary really quickly."

At the mention of the Infirmary, Hermione got nervous and tried to fight against both Cormac's hands to bring her palm to her face, but again he was too strong.

"You're fine," he said again calmly. His tone didn't immediately make Hermione feel better, "I promise."

"Cormac, I'm starting to freak out," Hermione said feeling jittery.

Cormac seemed to have an internal struggle in his head, "How do you do with seeing injuries?"

"I don't have a lot of experience," she said truthfully, "I'm more brain than brawn."

"Good point," Cormac said thinking that it was a silly thing to ask, "If you want to see, go ahead."

Hermione was expecting the worse: missing fingers, broken thumb, something bad. She was beginning to psyche herself out, and more pain was rushing to her hand.

Cormac released her wrist and Hermione, brought her hand to her eyes. There was a splinter. Granted, it was a large splinter, about the size of the teeth of a key, but only half of it was dug between the outermost layers of skin. It looked like only a little bit had truly penetrated.

"Cormac," Hermione's laugh was almost derisive.

He seemed taken aback and offended.

Making sure to be more delicate to his feelings, she continued, "Yes, ouch. But I've had so much worse!"

Looking at it had made the splinter sting a little worse.

"Well, I'm sorry. You have to admit that it doesn't feel good though," Cormac reasoned.

"You're sweet," Hermione said. She really wanted to kiss him on the cheek, but the angle they were standing at made it too difficult, "but you're right. Let's head to the infirmary."

The nurse's station was just as far as the cafeteria, but in the opposite direction once over the bridge. Coming over Lower Bridge, the pair of them went right rather than left to the dining hall.

"Out to Lunch" was the sign that was on the door of the medical building.

"Sonofabitch," Cormac said under his breath as he tried the doorknob and it didn't move.

"It's fine, Cormac," Hermione said squeezing her wrist in an attempt to keep more painful blood from rushing to the spot on her palm. A little warm, red liquid was flowing down her index fingertip. Nothing alarming, but more than Cormac felt comfortable seeing.

"That's not good enough," Cormac said looking up and down the wall they were facing. Once he found nothing, he removed himself from Hermione's side, "wait here." He snuck around the corner to see if he could find another way in.

After two minutes of standing, holding her hand which was hurting more and more, the door in front of her unlocked and swung open. Cormac was standing there and allowed her to enter.

"How…" she started.

He pointed to a side of the building, "Mrs. Craig left a window open."

Hermione approached the opening and looked down. It was too far for a normal human – or wizard – to jump.

"How…" she went again.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled. Next, he pointed to the cot, "Sit down."

She did as she was told, and Cormac started rummaging through the different drawers and cupboards. He grabbed what he needed and attended to her. When he turned back around he had two examination gloves on his hands.

"You are cute," Hermione said chuckling with almost a mocking tone. She was trying to be flirty, but Cormac misread her tone.

"What?! I'm sanitary," he said holding them up.

"I know. I'm sorry," Hermione had to hold back her laughter. She was really impressed by how much he seemed to care.

Cormac had some isopropyl alcohol and sanitized his tweezers, before he brought them down on Hermione's skin. She winced as he worked to get a grip on the bottom side of the intrusive sliver.

"I'm sorry," he said for the hundredth time since she knew him.

"It's ok," she said. He was not delicate with the tweezers. Maybe he had a sweet touch on her arm, or against her lower back. Even his kisses that were full of lust seemed to be more delicate than the way that he was trying to get this splinter out. She easily could've done the job herself, but she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Finally," he said getting a good hold on the piece of wood. Slowly, which hurt more, he removed it. Both he and Hermione looked down and were mildly amazed at how large the piece was.

Blood was starting to rise to the surface of the wound. Much more delicately than he had with the tweezer, Cormac dabbed at her hand with a piece of gauze. Next, he squirted some alcohol on a new gauze pad and warned Hermione for the coming on sting. Her face twisted when the burn came on and he hated himself for bringing it on. Next, he used a new piece of gauze to dry the area, and finally placed a bandage the size of her palm over the wound.

"How's that?" he stepped away looking at his work.

Hermione flexed her hand, "It's great. Thank you." She smiled at him.

Cormac smiled back briefly, gathered the garbage and hazardous gauze pads, "I'm glad." He turned away from Hermione and proceeded to the door. He held it open for her and she stepped outside.

Cormac was in a weird headspace and couldn't quite figure things out. In his modest seventeen years on the earth, he was pleased to know that he had an uncanny gift to understand most girls – at least, most girls of a certain type. But he sensed that Hermione was mostly unimpressed by him. That was something that he sense incorrectly.

Everything between him and Hermione had been going perfectly. More perfectly than any interaction he had ever had up to that point, by he felt some rocky moments in that span of time and he was unsure and second guessing himself.

He had sensed that Hermione was slightly amused by him and his usual antics, but nothing more than that. She laughed at some of his tamer jokes, and seemed to be impressed by some of his talents, but didn't see him in any light other than, entertaining. Before that day he was intrigued by her and wanted to pursue her and get to know her, but something inside him was wary. Something in his chest, something he didn't understand yet, wanted him to continue his pursuit, but his gut was whispering something different. Up to this point he had always listened to his instincts and they hadn't let him down, but now he was about to make a mistake.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed. More to come tomorrow I hope.**

**jrb2009**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Here are a few firsts. This is the first post from a foreign country other than "home" and here is a chapter that follows Cormac's point of view. I'm interested to see in what you think. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 18**

Cormac walked in front of Hermione on their way to the cafeteria. Now that Hermione was patched up, he felt better. He also felt less responsible for helping her out. He was still feeling weird about his whole Hermione situation. He would never admit it, but ever since she was the bushy haired slightly large toothed First Year at Hogwarts, Cormac had a slight crush on her. Maybe saying that he had a crush on her was too much, but he couldn't deny that he fancied her. He had always admired her from the background, and was too shy to ever say anything to her. Of course, by the time he had honed his craft of impressing and winning girls, he felt his window to win Hermione over had fizzled out, because she always spent a lot of time with Potter and Weasley.

Of course, he was now a strapping young man and had plenty of girls come his way, and he was never going to say no to a good thing, but something about Hermione had always attracted him. The first time he helped up to her feet back in the train station all those years ago was not completely an act of kindness. He hoped that would begin the blooming of a budding friendship, but he had acted incorrectly. Even when he threw Draco Malfoy, the worst kind of scum, to the ground, it was for her, even though Cormac did enjoy himself.

_Maybe it's time to forget about it_, his conscience sparked up as he held the door open for her. He had a brief moment with himself and thought, _maybe_.

"Thanks," Hermione said as she stepped into the noisy building.

He didn't respond. He followed her into the dining hall. They were ten minutes late and there was no line to the food. They filled up plates and headed back out to the sitting area. Again, Hermione had several groups of campers make space for her and she couldn't turn them down.

"Seriously, Cormac," she looked him in the eyes, "Thank you."

Cormac forced a phony smile on his face, "No problem."

Hermione furrowed her brow quickly and joined the group that craved her attention.

Cormac continued on his way and sat down at a table with some of the 'Deputy Head' counselors, some of the 'cooler' counselors, and some of the 'coolest' campers. He silently ate, while the rest of the table was talking about the latest camp gossip. Cormac was looking around the room and his eyes were stopping at each of the female counselors. He couldn't be certain, but he was pretty sure he could have his choice of the lot. Maybe, maybe, maybe, Nicky could resist him. She was six years older, but he was pretty sure he had caught her eye once or twice. The rest of the group, COULD be putty in his hands if he really pursued it. Cormac ran his hand through his hair and took another bite as his eyes directed them to the back of Hermione's head.

He remembered sitting in the exact seat he was in between Mr. and Mrs. Craig the day he thrust Draco to the ground. Little did he know that at twelve years old, he was going to be slightly hung up on the same girl five years later. Cormac was slightly appalled that he caught himself smiling at the back of her head.

"What do you say, Cormac?" Justin Pervis, the Deputy Head counselor and counselor of the Ducks asked Cormac.

"What?" Cormac said being brought back to the present.

"Want to play?" he said holding up a pack of cards from a box that Cormac was quite good at.

"Yeah, why not?" he said pushing his finished tray of food away.

After his third consecutive win, Cormac removed himself from the game.

"Oh come on, Cormac. One more?" a fourteen year old camper begged.

"No, I'm sick of winning," Cormac could never grow tired of winning, but he was nervous to lose his title as champion.

He took his tray and brought it up to the section of the cafeteria where his dishes could be washed. He thanked the workers for taking his plate and silverware and headed back across the room to his seat. As he walked across, he made eye contact with a ravishing blonde who was smiling in his direction. Brianna Craig was also hoping to make eye contact with Cormac.

He threw a sideways smile her way as he made it back to his table. He continued to watch as the same campers that asked for Cormac to join once more, won the game.

"Come on, Cormac. One game?" the boy pleaded again, but Cormac was saved by the metaphorical bell – or in this case, the bullhorn.

"Fourth session," Mr. Craig said looking up at the clock and seeing that it was almost one in the afternoon.

"Sorry, buddy," Cormac said standing up and walking to the corner of the room where he and Eric always met for the Canoeing session.

"What's up," Cormac said meeting his friend with a bro handshake.

"What's going on," Eric said after they released hands.

Canoeing was a period that was only offered to campers that were thirteen and up, because there was no sense in bringing people that weren't strong enough to paddle themselves.

They made a quick headcount and had everyone that they expected. They headed for the door.

"See you in a bit, Cormac," a voice by the door reminded him.

Cormac's head snapped around and saw Hermione. She looked absolutely radiant to him. She was wearing a horrible purple camp t-shirt and had her hair in a simple ponytail, but he couldn't imagine her looking any better.

He cracked his knuckles quickly, something he did when he was unsure, rubbed his head and smiled back at her. It was a genuine smile.

"So what's up with you and her?" Eric asked Cormac with one eyebrow cocked.

Cormac had to admit that he liked Eric a lot. He had worked with him the summer before, but so far this year – they were only a week in – they were becoming pretty close.

"What about it?" Cormac asked pretending not to care.

"Ok," Eric said getting the hint, "I won't ask."

Cormac turned his head and could see Hermione through the wall-length sized windows to the cafeteria. If only he knew that Hermione was trying to flirt with him before, rather than appear standoffish or like she was trying to move him to the dreaded friend zone.

"Did you hear about West Ham's newest transfer?" Eric decided it would be best to change the subject while they continued to walk to the lake.

Once at the trailers of canoe's Cormac and Eric had to work together to bring the boats to the ground. This was the worst part of the session, but the pair of them worked quickly.

"Life vests," Eric said annoyed that he needed to remind everyone.

"But we all know how to swim," Dayton whined looking at Cormac for assistance.

Cormac held his palms up in defeat.

"I know that you can swim, but rules are rules," Eric said taking Dayton's head in both his hands and pointing his nose in the direction of the life vests.

The campers strapped on the equipment and headed to the canoes. Cormac and Eric popped their shirts off, as was customary for the period and stood next to their canoe.

"Are we ready?" Cormac shouted to the campers.

Everyone paired up with their usual partner and dragged the canoes into the water.

The first days of camp were spent teaching the campers how to do some of the canoeing basics. How to paddle with two people, how to steer, how to communicate while paddling, how to put your canoe right-side up if it flips, and everything prior to the last day of the week was geared to the "Final Challenge".

There was a very small island between Camp Craig and Camp Adventure. It was six hundred meters from the Camp Craig docks, but only one hundred yards off the shore closest to the Camp Craig storage barn.

Cormac and Eric allowed most of the campers to start the shortened sixty minute period. Dayton and his partner were making the best time to Cormac's delight. And soon they were beginning to become a small dot from where Cormac and Eric were. The pair of counselors brought up the rear to make sure that no one was left stranded and tired from paddling.

After twenty minutes, most of the canoes were on the blind side of the tiny island, while Cormac and Eric were keeping close to a pair of thirteen year old friend from the Lady Beavers cabin. The task seemed a little big for them to chew, but Cormac and Eric did the best that they could to encourage them to continue.

Eric looked down at his watch and the thirty minutes was halfway done. He turned back to Cormac and looked back at him and pointed to his watch. It was the same as saying, "We need to have these girls turn around."

Cormac didn't want to discourage the girls. Instead, he wanted to make sure they felt the satisfaction of succeeding. He had an idea.

He piped up with the idea, in a diplomatic fashion, to have one of the girls escort Cormac and the other escort Eric around the island.

Just like he and Hermione had, Cormac hooked onto the edge of the girls' canoe and one of them switched over. Cormac held the boats steady while Eric transferred and moved to the seat in the back. Now, the pair of them could propel forward while the girls steered.

The girl in front of him had a head of bushy hair just like Hermione, but the tone was slightly darker. Seeing the bushy head in front of him brought Cormac back to the day that he and Hermione worked together to retrieve the floating canoe in the middle of the lake. He pictured Hermione's face and couldn't stop himself from thinking about tangling up in the Gryffindor common room with her, or taking him back to the four poster in his dorm.

He noticed that the young teen in front of him was beginning to tire and he couldn't help but think back to Hermione as she grew tired from exerting herself. Cormac smiled and paddled for the two of them being driven by the idea of seeing Hermione for the next session. He enjoyed taking care of her: standing up for her against Draco Malfoy, helping save her from embarrassment the night she may have received a concussion, looking after her the night she had a bad reaction to the bad alcohol, and when she had that nasty splinter.

While he thought about all the good, some of the bad reached into his mind. At times she seemed repulsed by his idea of jokes; at times, she seemed unreceptive to his flirting, she even pushed him away, and she hadn't really done anything to seek him out over the past few days. Granted, neither had he, but things were busy at camp.

Because he was unsure what was going on, it was driving him crazy. For the remainder of his trip around the island and back to the shore, he couldn't decide how he felt. He didn't have any more idle time with his thoughts; however, because he hit the bank of the shore.

Most of the campers had returned and dragged their canoes to the bank, but some were enjoying the freedom of paddling in the shallower water until Cormac and Eric instructed them to return. Once all the canoes were back up on the trailers, Cormac and Eric returned to the cafeteria with the campers. Again, it was necessary to force the liquid into the kids since they were sitting in the summer sun for an hour, but after that, Cormac was a touch excited that it was time for the Tennis Clinic.

"Hey," Hermione said smiling at Cormac as he approached.

"Hey back," he was happy to see her and returned her smile.

By this point in camp, the campers knew who they were looking for, and once they found Hermione and Cormac they knew which direction to head to.

Several of the older campers took the lead and Hermione and Cormac travelled toward the back of the group.

"Are you ready for today?" Hermione said looking in his direction.

"For what?" Cormac said turning back in her direction and being amazed at how pretty she looked.

"Doubles tournament," Hermione reminded him.

'Oh yeah. I forgot," Cormac admitted. His brain seemed to be somewhere else.

"You're going down, Cormac," Hermione told him as she stepped onto the tennis courts.

"Everybody, pair up," Hermione instructed, as campers dashed all over the court to retrieve partners.

Little Amber, the first camper to volunteer to learn the fundamentals, was left without a partner.

"Come on, Sweetie," Cormac said taking her on his team before she started to feel bad for being left out. He offered her a high-high-five. She met it enthusiastically.

Hermione had reasoned that there could be three short matches spanned over the ninety minute period and at the end, there would be a camp champion.

_I do love a good competition_, Cormac thought to himself.

Amber by herself was still too weak to hit the ball over the net consistently, but with Cormac as her teammate they had a very strong chance at winning.

Cormac and Amber won their first match in a fairly even match up. There was a camper that was about fourteen and his younger sister. Cormac took no prisoners and overpowered the team they were playing against, while chasing down any ball that escaped pasted Amber.

In the second matchup, Amber and Cormac stacked up against a pair that consisted of a boy and a girl, a Camp Craig couple that was destined to fail. After the first set, the two of them realized that the key to winning laid in aiming toward Amber. Their hunch was correct. Very few times was she able to return the ball and even fewer times did she result in winning a point. Cormac was most relieved when the little girl swung and missed the ball, giving him a chance to make a play. Amber was completely oblivious to everyone's attempt to get her the ball, or Cormac's attempt to play the court slightly more on her side so that he could assist her. The game was close, but Cormac was able to bat away against the pair of them in the final game.

By this point, everyone else had finished their games and clapped for the final point on the court. Cormac and Amber circled to the other side of the net and shook hands with their opponents after winning the close match. Cormac was sweating and his feet were hurting slightly from pounding all over the court to track down every ball that missed Amber.

The final match was against Hermione and her partner. Cormac could feel the competitive lion in his chest emerging to the foreground. He was close to winning. The final round began and Cormac had won the first serve. Using every ounce of athleticism he won the game on his serve. Hermione was a good enough sport to mix up the shorts between him and Amber, but Hermione's partner forced the ball to Amber's side. Next, Hermione led the serving and Cormac was beginning to fatigue. He couldn't run as quickly to retrieve Amber's missed hits and they lost. Amber had only landed one serve out of all her attempt and lost the game for them. Cormac was getting frustrated, but kept his frustration internal.

Hermione's partner served and again they won the game as well as the set. As they switched sides of the court, not as the professionals would, but as Camp Craig rules allowed, Hermione swung her racket against Cormac's bottom. She had to admit that she hit him a little harder than she intended, but he definitely took it too harshly. He shot a dirty look her way, and there wasn't any playfulness there, which is what Hermione was going for.

They started the second set and it did not end in Cormac's favor. The final point of the game ended with a very clever drop shot by Hermione. Cormac took off as fast as he could, and if there was one person quick enough in Camp Craig to return the shot it was he, but he was just too tired. Cormac sprinted and realized he wasn't going to reach the ball on his feet, so he dove pushing off his right foot and extending with his racket hand and connected with the ball, but he didn't have enough flick in his wrist to know it over the net.

Everyone again clapped. They clapped for the champions and for Cormac's effort. Still on the ground, he exhaled loudly poking his head up and saw the ball bouncing against the net. In defeat, he placed his forehead against the court surface annoyed with himself and swore softly.

"It's ok, Cormac. You did really well," Amber said reaching down and patting him on the back of his head.

The innocence of a child was the only thing that could turn Cormac's spirits. He worked his way up to a knee and ruffled the little girl by the hair, "You are perfect, Amber. Never stop being so sweet."

The little child beamed up at him. The two of them approached the other side of the net and shook hands with Hermione and her teammate.

"Good shot, Granger," Cormac said not through gritted teeth like he would normal do.

"You almost had it," she said pointing to the spot on the court that he just picked himself up from.

Cormac and Hermione led the campers back to the cafeteria while almost everyone sang Hermione and her partner's praise as champions of the Tennis Clinic. As the group was dismissed to their final session of the day, Hermione told Comrac, "I can't wait to see you later."

Cormac smiled at her genuinely, but once he watched her exit the building with the Cooking session he went back to his funk. Maybe it was the week of flirting with Hermione without really getting anywhere, or the perceived indifference she seemed to be taking to him on and off throughout the week, but he was left confused.

"Alright, Volleyball Clinic," Wayne's voice called, "Let's go."

Cormac and Wayne led the group while Bri was in the back with a few of the campers from her cabin.

Once they arrived at the sand pits with the volleyball nets, Cormac and Wayne popped off their shirts like every other day. Cormac caught Bri's eyes lingering on him. She raised her eyebrows in his direction. He smiled briefly and shook his head in her direction.

"Who wants to take a shot at the title against me and Stretch," Cormac said thrusting a thumb in Wayne's direction.

Several older campers stepped up to the challenge, and Cormac and Wayne led the way to one of the two courts. That left Bri to set up a few drills on the second court.

During the game, Cormac and Wayne moved together perfectly as a team and handily beat the challenging campers. At the first water break, Cormac picked up his t-shirt and wiped the sand from his face and tried to dust away the coarse material that was stuck to the sweat on his front.

Bri had extended a cup of water in his direction, "You look good, Cormac."

"Thanks, Bri," he said taking it and putting the water down his gullet.

"When are you going to give up your noble quest for Hermione Granger?" she said jumping right to the chase.

He almost choked on the last sip of water, "I'm sorry what?"

"You heard me, Cormac."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cormac said looking around to see if anyone had heard her comment.

"Not all blondes are stupid," she whispered to him.

He remained silent.

"You know, while you're wasting your time with her, you're missing out on this," she took a sip of her water with seductive eyes over her cup.

"It's not like that," Cormac said looking down at Bri with a disapproving look.

"What isn't? You and her or you and me?" she questioned.

"You and I aren't even a thing," Cormac said shortly breaking her sultry eye contact.

"Maybe we aren't now, but we were," she didn't need to remind him.

"Hey! Cormac, are we ready?" Wayne said holding the ball up in the air from the first court.

Cormac didn't say anything to Bri once he turned around. Instead, he threw his cup out and jogged over to his teammate on the court. Bri watched him as he left. She smiled to herself.

Cormac and Wayne won easily again and after a short celebration, they deemed that it was time to clean up and head back to camp.

"Put the volleyballs back in the locker, and someone rake up Court 2," Cormac said waiting to lock the locker with the camp assigned padlock.

The campers were lining up at the edge of the sand pits to head back to camp. Wayne started the procession as Cormac snapped the lock shut.

"So what do you say, Cormac," Bri said behind him. She had startled him.

Cormac jumped an amount only noticed by himself, "Say to what?" he turned slowly.

"When are we going to do this? We both know you can't resist me forever," she said biting her lip as he turned around. This conversation had been pretty regular for the past two or three days.

Cormac took her beauty in for a second, but grabbed a hold of himself. He slunk past her quickly, "Not anymore, Bri," he headed toward the campers.

"I don't know. How about I meet up with you in a bit?" she grabbed him by the upper arm and he turned to face her.

He rolled his eyes, but he was losing his will to fight.

"Maybe the basement of the Camp Store?" she suggested.

"No!" he responded without hesitation.

"Why not? Don't want Hermione to see you with me? She'll find out the truth eventually," Bri said as if she was blackmailing him. Now her voice turned sweeter, "And with me you don't need to be anything different, or hide anything."

"That's not me anymore," Cormac said thinking about plenty of times from the past.

"Come on, Cormac. It's not like we haven't before," she was getting her lips impossibly close to his ear, "And if memory serves me right, it won't take very long if I do that thing you like."

Cormac's handsome face didn't change for the three seconds it took him to process everything. He had to process the pros and cons of his next actions, who would be effected, if it would be worth it or not, what he would be losing, and who he could lose. Typical to a seventeen year old, he chose wrong.

"Ok. One time. That's it," he said making sure no one could see or hear them.

"That's what you say every time."

**A/N: I know that everyone is going to be mad and curious, but who knows what's going to happen! Tell me what you thought about the Cormac point of view.**

**jrb2009**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Back from my business trip in Amsterdam and it is good to be home. It took me a while to post this because I hate dealing with conflict in my stories, but that's how the characters grow... Enjoy. I'll try to post soon.**

**Chapter 19**

Clumsily, Hermione had dropped half a cup of vegetable oil off of her workstation, and effectively, ruined the lowest threads of her shirt and the shorts she was wearing.

She swore under her breath during the demonstration so that only Naomi heard the foul word. She did her best to not get distracted by her spoiled clothes. She finished the session, brought the campers to the amphitheater, before everyone was dismissed for the short amount of free time that followed the end of the camp activities.

By design, Hermione had sat in the last row of the assembly and the moment Mr. Craig excused everyone, Hermione tore out of the section in the direction of the cabins. If she could make it to her cabin, change clothes and hurry back to the camp store, she may not be terribly late. She tore across Lower Bridge before the first group of campers was climbing up the steps to the amphitheater.

As Hermione ran across the opening and headed toward the fork in the road that led to her cabin, she was shocked.

"Bri?" Hermione stated with a puzzled tone as she slowed her run to a slight jog.

Bri appeared to be matting her hair down as well as trying to straighten out her clothes.

"Oh, hey, Hermione," was the blonde girl's response. Her tone wasn't surprised, but seemed anxious. She looked over her shoulder.

Hermione's eyes traced in the direction that Bri's eyes were looking. Coming from behind the Lady Hare's counselor cabin was Cormac. He was turning the corner at a trot and was looking behind himself making sure his counselor cabin door was closed. Momentarily, his eyes became twice their normal size when he turned around and caught a glimpse at Hermione. Fortunately, his astonishment was only etched on his face for a fraction of a second and she missed it.

"And, Cormac?" Hermione wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. "Together," she trailed off that word after a pause.

"It's not what it looks like," Cormac said trying to remain in control of the situation.

"Don't be modest, Cormac," Bri said turning back to the boy.

"Not now, Bri," he barked at her.

"I need to get changed," Hermione said backing away from the pair of them as if she would contract some sort of disease. Too many thoughts were running through Hermione's head. Surprise, anger, disgust, thoughts of revenge and the slightest pang of heartbreak came to Hermione's mind.

She quickly stripped out of her first outfit of the day and found another camp shirt and pair of shorts. She opened her door and was immediately met by Cormac. He was standing on Hermione's porch staring down at the floor.

"Hermione," was the only thing that he got out of his mouth, before she interrupted him.

"Not now, Cormac," she said refusing to look at him, "I need to be in the Camp Store." She took off at a run.

He followed her with no problem. Hermione's top speed was easily within Cormac's ability to keep up.

They were moving at such a manageable pace for him, he did his best to start explaining, "Hermione, that wasn't what it looked like?"

Hermione couldn't yell at him and sprint at the same time, so she decided to come to a halt, "And what exactly does it look like, Cormac? You seem to be the master of things not being what they look like. How am I supposed to know what things are supposed to look like?"

"It's not like…" he tried to continue.

"Just leave me alone," Hermione cut him off, "I can't hear you say that anymore."

Cormac made a move to say something, but Hermione stopped him.

"Please, just leave me alone."

Hermione didn't look back as she continued running toward the camp store. Cormac didn't bother to follow. Instead, he just watched her as she ran off. He was going to make sure that she heard him out, but there was no point in pushing the matter at the moment.

Hermione arrived in the camp store and the spectacle in front of her only made her want to scream even more. The campers were loud, the telly was up high, and she knew she was going to be asked to start filling some of the orders for milkshakes. Everything about the next thirty minutes was going to suck.

The remainder of the free time left Hermione in a horrible mood. Every time the door opened she would quickly glance over. She expected Cormac to walk in like a beaten dog, but she was mildly disappointed when he didn't show up. At dinner, Hermione found most of her meal Cormacless. She was met by him at the dish disposal section of camp.

Before she had the opportunity to interrupt him, he spat out what he wanted to say, "Hermione, I hope we can talk during our time in the Camp Store."

Hermione pretended to ignore him and left after she placed her dishes and silverware on the conveyor belt. She turned away from the handsome boy and made it seem like she was heading to her seat, but before she returned, she made a detour to Naomi.

"Naomi, can you please work the Camp Store for me tonight?" Hermione whispered in her friend's ear.

Naomi turned around to look Hermione in the face and she had a look of confusion.

"I'll swap with you for the bonfire tonight. I really don't want to talk about it. Can you just do this for me? Please?" she pleaded.

Naomi wasn't going to say no to her best friend so she agreed that they could swap.

Cormac had done a decent job preparing how he was going to justify what he was doing and explain everything, but when he stepped into the camp store and skimmed the room for Hermione, he was left disappointed because she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he saw a head of hair that couldn't be mistaken for Naomi Clyne.

"Naomi, what are you doing here?" Cormac said approaching her from behind the couch she was lounging on.

"I don't know, honestly," she started to tell him, "Hermione came over and asked to switch jobs with me tonight. I couldn't say no to her."

Cormac swore under his breath.

"What happened?" Naomi questioned him.

"Nothing," Cormac said turning away from Naomi and literally bumping into Bri.

Immediately, an annoyed look came across Cormac's face.

"Don't act like you aren't happy to see me, Cormac," she said trying to look in his face.

"I'm not," he said pushing past her and he headed to the other side of the Camp Store kitchen.

Hermione had never worked the Bonfire before, but it was much more enjoyable than working in the back of the Camp Store. There were sections of people doing their best to tell scary stories, others were making beloved s'mores, but most were huddled around some of the favorite counselors just happy to be in their presence.

Hermione was assisting with s'more duty. It wasn't the most fun way to spend the hour, but every so often she would nibble on an extra marshmallow or a brick of chocolate and that seemed to make her feel better.

Once there was no more interest in the sweet treats, Hermione joined the ranks of those just lounging around the fire pit. She wasn't there for long before the first wave of campers started to head back across Lower Bridge tired of the Camp Store. They were being escorted by Naomi.

Pleased to see a friendly face, Hermione made space so that Naomi could join her. The pair of them shared an oak bench on the outskirts of the assembled group watching the flames. Naomi skipped all the nicities.

"What happened between you and Cormac?" Naomi questioned.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione did her best to give off a semblance of indifference.

"He was looking for you in the Camp Store and when you weren't there he was very, very disappointed," Naomi revealed to him.

Hermione still couldn't figure out her feeling on the matter, so she continued with indifference, "Oh? Was he?"

"Hermione, it's me," Naomi loved some good gossip, "You can tell me."

Hermione had been keeping her thoughts to herself all evening long. It would feel good to confide in her best camp friend.

Hermione took a deep breath and started, "You know how things with Cormac and I have been."

"You mean really good?" Naomi asked.

"Well, that's what I thought," Hermione said clarifying.

"So it's not?" Naomi asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, after our Cooking Session, I ran back to my cabin to change, and who did I run into?" Hermione left it off as a question.

Naomi gave her friend a look that told her that she was aware that Hermione ran into Cormac.

"And Bri," Naomi gasped as Hermione said it, "Coming down the path that led to Cormac's cabin."

"No," Naomi was mortified for her friend, but also a little excited about the dirty scoop.

Hermione gave her a warning look.

Naomi shook it off, "What did he say?"

"Nothing really," Hermione said trying to think back. She didn't really give him a chance to say anything, but that was probably for the best. The smooth talking Cormac would probably be able to play the role of the victim.

Naomi did her best to recap the very brief run-in that she had with Cormac in the camp store, and just as they finished their conversation about the handsome boy, the rest of the campers that had yet to return to the vicinity of the cabins, crossed over Lower Bridge.

Cormac McLaggen was in the front of the group moving at a speedier pace than everyone else. As he came into view, it was apparent that he was scanning for someone. When he found Hermione he changed his course to her immediate direction.

"Hey, Naomi," Cormac said addressing her, "can you give Hermione and me a second?"

Hermione made a desperate look in her friend's direction.

"Actually, we are going to run a check on the Lady Otters and the Vixens," Naomi said covering for her.

"Well, can I walk you to the counselor meeting after that?" Cormac started, "I can wait for you."

"Hermione already said she would walk with me, and I'm not really in the mood to share," Naomi stated. She offered Cormac a sassy look.

"Can I walk you to your cabin after that?" he was starting to dig at the bottom of the barrel for an excuse to find time with her.

"Well, actually after that, Hermione is going to spend the night with me in my cabin. So we won't need any of your help," Naomi directed at Cormac. Next she turned to face Hermione who was sitting awestruck, "Come on, Hermione. Let's go check our girls in."

As if on cue, the Deputy Head Counselors were herding campers to their cabins, and instructed a pair of counselors to retrieve pails of water from the lake to drown the fire.

Naomi didn't leave Hermione's side for the rest of the night. The pair of them went to the Lady Otter's cabin first and had no problem putting them down for bed and turning the lights off. Immediately after that, the two of them made their way to the Vixen's cabin, and that seemed a little more difficult. When Naomi hadn't shown up immediately following the final hour of free time the girls thought they had a free night and had gotten themselves wound up, so it required a little more coaxing to get them to brush their fangs and into bed.

At the Counselor's Daily Wrap-up meeting, Mr. Craig congratulated the group for ALMOST completing their first week of camp and reminded them all of the importance of the Camp Cup. Of course, the director wanted to emphasis that the activities and memories of the Camp Cup were ultimately for the campers, but Mr. and Mrs. Craig reminded all the counselors of the ongoing wager with Camp Adventure surrounding the Camp Cup.

No one was completely certain if it was "legal" to be betting on children's accomplishments in what was supposed to be a friendly competition, but over the last ten or eleven years, Mr. Craig and his brother put a wager of a very, very nice meal to the winner of the Camp Cup. It may not seem like that major of a wager, but a £200 or £300 meal every week added up, especially when the main source of income floods in during the summer months.

"Throughout the day, I have been running the odds in my head and I'm feeling confident. Of course, there is no way for us to know what kind of skills the Camp Adventure folks will have, but based on some of our campers and certainly our counselors," Mr. Craig gave an appreciative smile to the group in front of him, "I am confident that we will give a good show."

"We won't let you down, Craigs," Nicky said to the pair in front of them.

"Well last year you did let us down four times," Mr. Craig said with a playful aire.

"Yeah, but we also won four times," Gary pointed out.

Everyone laughed.

"Alright, off to bed with everyone, get some good sleep and let's get ready to lead Camp Craig to victory," Mr. Craig said attempting to excite his counselors one last time.

Hermione could sense that Cormac was lingering around in her vicinity, but Naomi wouldn't give him a single moment to reach her. Feeling defensive of her best friend she was certain she was fulfilling the role of a "good" friend.

Eventually, Cormac gave up his pursuits for the day and silently accepted defeat, and came to terms that he wasn't going to be able to reconcile with Hermione that day. He followed the rest of the counseling core out of the amphitheater and back to the cabins.

Naomi led Hermione from Lower Bridge toward Naomi's cabin. Hermione was curious to see if Naomi's offer to spend the night was an empty invitation, but Naomi was adamant that Hermione deserved to have a sleepover. As Naomi dragged Hermione toward the Vixen's cabins, Hermione caught Cormac looking longingly in her direction with eyes that offered apology and a chance to speak, but Hermione twisted her head and followed Naomi.

Naomi offered Hermione a spare set of pajamas and the pair of them spent a little bit of time badmouthing Cormac and exasperating at how much of an ass he was before they crawled under the covers and fell asleep.

Hermione and Naomi set an early alarm so that Hermione could cross across the opening by the cabins and change, shower, and prepare for the day. She got out of Naomi's pajamas and folded them before placing them in a corner to be returned. She grabbed her towel and headed to the shower. She stepped out and found an outfit for the day. She had a little bit of time, and decided to put her hair up in some spare purple and yellow ribbons to match the Camp Craig staff shirts.

Hermione stepped out once her hair was just to her liking, and she swung by the Otters' cabin and brought her campers over to breakfast. There was an excited buzz. It was Saturday. It was the last day of camp. And it was the Camp Cup.

Hermione wasn't the only member of the staff that had done a little extra to show off some Camp Craig spirit. Several members of the staff had painted double C letters on their cheeks with purple face paint, others had high socks that matched the camp colors and the remainder had different accessories like bandanas and sunglasses that denoted their allegiance.

As Hermione made to sit down, some of her brighter campers came to sit with her immediately. The group of kids started asking Hermione to quiz them on random trivia. While a certain handsome, brown-eyed counselor were known to be the anchor to several of Camp Craig's athletic competitions, Hermione was going to be supervising the "Academic Pentathlon", which was glorified trivial pursuit, and the "Trivia Teams", which was more like TV's Jeopardy.

"What is the capital of Norway?" Hermione asked.

"Oslo," a particularly bright Beaver responded.

"Correct," Hermione told him, "Um. Freezing point of water?"

"0 degrees." Another camper responded.

"In Fahrenheit," Hermione tried to trick them.

The children from the UK had no exposure to the Imperial system.

"32 degrees," she informed them.

After ten minutes, she was beginning to run out of trivia. Thankfully, the bullhorn went off and Mr. Craig was making an announcement to the group at large.

"Ok, everybody. Today is the day. The Camp Cup! Who is ready to have some fun?!" he said through the bullhorn.

The group cheered.

"Today, we are going to be hosting Camp Adventure, and they should be here very shortly. We are going to meet them in the amphitheater before we break off for our competitions. We are going to go through a morning of activities with our guests and then break for lunch. After lunch we will host the All-Camp football match and decide who the winner is!" Mr. Craig explained to those that were new to camp, "After that we can pack and say goodbye until next time. Anyone that has agreed to stay for next session will get more instructions later. Are we ready to head to the amphitheater?" Before he had finished his sentence, some of the more anxious campers were already to the door.

Hermione wasn't expecting Cormac to come crawling back her way, but the gesture would've been nice. She quickly scanned the room out of the corner of her eye and she didn't see him anywhere. She was slightly deflated, because the day before he followed her like a lost puppy looking for an excuse to "explain himself" to her, but now he was nowhere to be seen. Hermione was pleased with herself when she saw that Bri was not with Cormac and was shepherding several of the last campers to the door.

By the time that Hermione had reached the amphitheater, it sounded like there was two times the amount of noise than she was expecting. This was justified because by the point Hermione worked her ways down the steps there were two times the amount of bodies. Camp Adventure had arrived and was occupying the left side of the rows of seats and Camp Craig had squeezed into the right side of the benches.

Hermione found a seat at the end of one of the rows and looked up onto the stage. Mr. and Mrs. Craig were up on the stage next to who Hermione assumed were the other Mr. and Mrs. Craig. In between the two rival camp director was a giant board with multiple columns and rows. In the rows were the different activities and in columns were open cells that would have the points awarded to Camp Adventure and Camp Craig respectively. There were the normal 18 different rows, and a final row for a Grand Total.

"Good to see you again, Hermione," a smooth attractive voice cooed in Hermione's direction from across the other side of the benches.

Hermione turned her head and smiled, "Hello, Ryan."

"How are you doing?" he said trying to start some small talk. After the formalities were finished he asked her, "Nervous to lose to Camp Adventure this afternoon?"

Hermione offered her best version of derisive laughter. Cormac was better at it, "Shouldn't you be the one that is worried?"

"Oh Hermione," he said pretending to speak down to her, "You forgot that I don't lose." He gave a shifty smile that Hermione shouldn't've trusted, but it was so damn charming.

"Are you trying to fraternize with the enemy, Ryan Craig?" Hermione took an accusing tone.

Again, Ryan pretended to be taken aback, "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to fraternize with the enemy. I'm pretty sure I was trying to flirt with the enemy."

Hermione had to shy away from Ryan's direction as she involuntarily went to brush some hair behind her ear, but since she had put her hair up in ribbons there was nothing there.

Pleased with the reaction he got out of her, Ryan turned his attention forward to allow Hermione time to recompose herself. He didn't get the chance to say anything more, because the Camp Craig director started to speak.

Mr. Craig greeted the Camp Craigers as well as the guests and welcomed everyone to the 21st year of the Camp Cup competition. He reminded everyone of the events of the day, the location of the different activities, and reminded everyone of the main goal of the day, to have fun.

Mr. Craig dismissed everyone and the campers and counselors headed to their different competitions. Hermione had the Trivial Pursuit session followed by Jeopardy both in the Academic Building before lunch, then everyone would head to the football pitch for the final competition of the day.

Hermione stood up and went to move up the stairs of the stage area, but she stood up too quickly and turned even quicker. She immediately bumped into Ryan's chest who stood unmoved. He looked down at her with a slight giggle.

"Sorry," she apologized too ashamed to look up in his direction.

"Save me a seat at lunch?" he said before he was dragged by the arm by one of his campers.

Hermione smiled at him as he was pulled away.

With his eyes and eyebrows, he gave her a look that signaled, "What's your answer?"

She nodded before she made her way to the Academic Building.

**A/N: Let's throw some Ryan into the mix, shall we?**

**jrb2009**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I was blow away by the quick responses when I posted my story last night, that I felt like I needed to work hard to edit this chapter and get it up in front of your eyes! Some of you guys seem to be on the right track guessing where the story is going. It's exciting to me! Enjoy.**

**Chapter 20**

Hermione had an assumption that the Camp Craig group was a bright set of kids, especially those that took the Academic Building session seriously. Of course, this wasn't a summer school or an academically focused camp, but there were several kids that really enjoyed learning and had a thirst for knowledge which Hermione appreciated and could relate to. It was these kids that pulled a lot of weight in the knowledge based competitions.

Camp Craig had walked away with all the points in both the Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy. Hermione actually felt bad during Trivial Pursuit, because the Camp Craigers won so dominantly across all the different question categories, but was pleased that it was more competitive in the game that was geared toward more random trivia for children.

Luckily for Hermione, there were only smiles from her campers. The Camp Adventure counselors had a much tougher time keeping morale high. After being beaten so handily, there was a serious low feeling among the Camp Adventure kids, and even one overly competitive boy started to cry at one point.

Fortunately, lunch was a great break point, and hopefully, a little food and drink back in the kids' systems would get everyone to mellow out.

Back in the dining hall, there were again two times the amount of normal people, but everyone could fit comfortably. Unfortunately, the line to the food was twice as long, but there was a fairly good natured sense of competition. From where Hermione was standing in line, she could see the scoreboard that was dragged into the dining hall. She didn't do all of the math, but it appeared like it was a runaway victory for Camp Craig. No matter the outcome of the final football match, Camp Craig was going to take home the Camp Cup.

After ten minutes, Hermione had a plate of food and was making her way out to the sitting area. She was startled when a strong hand reached out and caught her by the wrist abruptly. She stopped in her tracks. To be perfectly honest, she was scared by the strength that grabbed her, but once she finished her quick gasp, the hand slackened around her wrist significantly.

"Sorry," Ryan's voice came to her side, "I just didn't want you getting away from me." He slid over and made space for her to sit.

Once Hermione had placed her tray down she massaged her wrist.

Ryan apologized again, "Sometimes I don't know my own strength."

"It's fine," Hermione said. She didn't want to seem like some baby that was overselling of how strongly he had grabbed her.

Ryan was sitting with a group of athletic looking boys. They must've been the equivalent of the same types of kids that enjoyed surrounding themselves with Cormac. This group seemed to be feeling down.

"How'd the morning go?" Ryan asked Hermione now that she was sitting and forking into her starter salad.

"It went really well," she started, "we really put it to you guys in the academic competitions."

"Yeah, but no one really cares about those," Ryan said attempting to ruffle Hermione's feathers, but she couldn't actually get upset, because of the smile that came across his face.

After they shared their smiles for a moment, Hermione asked him how his morning went.

"Well, I think we had some fun," Ryan said gesturing to the boys sitting with him, "but we couldn't keep up with the Camp Craig team. My boys here," Ryan quickly introduced them by name to Hermione, "beat the Camp Craig campers, but once we assembled the counselors, we were outplayed."

"The great unbeatable Ryan Craig couldn't compete with the Camp Craig counselors?" Hermione's tone was purposefully irreverent, but definitely playful.

Ryan smiled, "I'm very good, but there was no way to compete with that guy over there." He nodded his head in the direction that he expected Hermione to look in

Hermione turned her head and couldn't pinpoint where he was referring to, "Who?"

"The guy sitting next to McLaggen," Ryan said craning his neck to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

Hermione should've known that Wayne was going to be the hero of Camp Craig's triumphs in basketball. Even though it wasn't an overly popular sport in the UK, Wayne was incredible if you put a ball in his hands. Hermione's eyes lingered in that direction for a second and just as she turned away, she was pretty sure that Cormac and her eyes met for a fraction of a moment.

It wasn't met with the usual warmness that she had learned to appreciate from Cormac, or the pleading that had followed him over the past day, but there was a burning of something that Hermione couldn't understand. It wasn't even the fire of hate that he felt for Ryan Craig and the Camp Cup.

Through the meal, several of Hermione's Lady Otters came and joined the table, and Ryan's campers seemed to chipper up with the addition of some cute girls their own age.

Ryan continued his best to flirt with Hermione, and she had to admit that she loved every bit of the attention.

"Well, I just look forward to seeing you tonight," Ryan was telling her referring to the counselor "get together" that would follow the evening.

"It should be fun," Hermione said smiling as she took a final sip from her glass.

Those were the last words exchanged at lunch, because the bullhorn went off. Most of the Camp Adventure crowd jumped, but Camp Craig's members just turned in the direction of the noise.

A few words were spoken. The score was tallied. And then everyone was dismissed to the football pitch for the "main event".

"Good luck, boys," Hermione said to Ryan and his campers as they stood up to make their way to the sports fields.

"Eh, we don't need any luck today. We already lost," one of Ryan's campers informed Hermione.

"No, don't say that," Ryan said to him, "This is about bragging rights. And remember guys, you need to shut down Dayton Ward, and I will take care of Cormac McLaggen."

Hermione rolled her eyes at these boys and their unnecessary rivalries.

Ryan took his tray and Hermione's and brought them to the dish return. Hermione thanked him, grabbed her campers and followed the procession toward the fields.

Down on the pitch, most people were restricted to "standing room only" around the outsides of the field, but there were several rows of bleachers that rose up for better viewing. Hermione had reached the field and it looked very packed on the stands, so she went to find somewhere to stand along the edge of the field, but also so that she could see everything.

"Hermione, up here," Naomi's voice called from the top row of bleachers.

Hermione shook her head side-to-side in disbelief. Of course, Naomi had found some way to get the best seats.

Hermione apologized as she stepped between people and over others to get to her friend.

It was too complicated to get every member of each team into one coordinated color so mesh shirts in yellow were being distributed to the Camp Craig team members. From where Hermione and Naomi were sitting they had a vantage point of everything. The team that Camp Adventure had assembled was warming up using different passing and shooting drills while the Camp Craig team was huddled in a group around Gary. After a quick look, Hermione noticed that almost the whole team was around Gary. Cormac was off the side working with a ball adjacent to the rest of the team.

By the time all the spectators had their camp colors and encouraging signs adorned, it was time to start the match. At the midfield line and off the touchline, there was a table for the special occasion that held a remote scoreboard and timer, and a setup with a microphone and speaker set. The counselor of the Eagles was situated behind both sets of electronics and was set to commentate the sixty minute match.

"It looks like Camp Adventure is ready to start," the voice came through the inexpensive speakers. Even though the speakers were bought on a budge, the commentator's voice came over very clearly.

Everyone that was watching could see that the player standing on the ball nodded in the direction of the Eagle counselor.

"And with that, let's begin," an audible click could be heard through the speakers and the scoreboard timer started counting down from 30:00.

"Camp Adventure starts with the ball, I apologize that I don't know their names, so I will just call them the strikers, but the strikers move the ball backward and the ball ends up at the feet of well-known anti-hero Ryan Craig. Craig moved with some shifty feet there to get around my own Eagle, Dennis Tanner. No worries, Dennis, you can get him back. Craig sprays the ball out wide to work an attack down the flanks."

Hermione was impressed. It was like listening to Hogwarts favorite Lee Jordan.

Hermione knew very little about the sport, but was certain that the further up the field Camp Adventure went and the further defensively Camp Craig went that was a bad sign.

"Craig on the ball again just outside the penalty area. He shifts the ball from his left foot to his right and swings at it. Surely..." The commentator was saying what everyone was thinking, but he was interrupted.

Just as Ryan put all the force he could through the ball, out of nowhere came Cormac.

"McLaggen comes in with a goal saving slide." The commentator's voice was excited.

Cormac was able to get to the ball before it made its way more than a few inches from Ryan's foot. The ball was still headed toward the goal, but all the dangerous pace behind the ball was nullified by Cormac's partial block.

"Camp Craig handyman, Wayne Jones, easily gathers the ball after Cormac took the vim out of that shot. Wayne isn't known for his foot skills, but with hand eye coordination like his, Camp Adventure is going to have a difficult time getting passed him."

Naomi clapped loudest of all.

"Wayne works the ball out to natural lefty, Bri Craig, who everyone knows is sister to opposing Midfielder Ryan Craig. Bri skips passed one assailant and knocks the ball in the path of Cormac. Look out now."

Hermione was still irked at Cormac and didn't have much to say about him at the moment – especially when his name was paired with Bri's - but when he was on the ball he was impressive. He moved forward with pace and purpose. When he came to a camper that tried to swipe the ball off him, he easily moved around them with finesse and speed. If a counselor came after him, Cormac would hold his balance and muscle against them, until he could find some space and run forward.

Cormac had easily worked the ball onto the Camp Adventure side of the field and came face to face with Ryan. Cormac looked right then left and slung a ball into an available channel for Dayton to run onto. Even though Dayton was a camper, he was proven to be a handful for any of the Camp Adventure counselors. Dayton moved in a mirror to how Cormac moved. He chased the ball down into the spot where Cormac had laid it and maneuvered behind the last defender. Dayton was in a footrace with a speedy camper from Camp Adventure, but Dayton was able to position his body between his defender and the ball. As Dayton entered into the penalty box, his legs got tangled together with the defender in a clear foul, but as Dayton fell to the floor he was able to swipe at the ball with his right foot, which caught the goalie, a different camper that was one of the Camp Adventure counselor's little brothers, off guard. The poor goalie was too slow in reacting and Dayton's shot made its way into the net.

Cheers and applause for Dayton's hard work erupted. Camp Adventure hung their heads while the Camp Craig team huddled around the goal scorer. Cormac was the first to reach his protégé and placed his arm around his neck and ruffled his hair. After the short celebration, both teams returned to their starting positions and the game began again. The first goal had been scored and it was only four minutes into the game.

"Camp Adventure gets us under way again. Let's see if the visitors have an answer for this Camp Craig lineup. The ball gets dropped back to Craig, who turns and plays it back to the defense. Craig barks out a few orders and the ball gets distributed to the outside back and Head Counselor Junior – sorry, Junior, I never caught your last name. Junior and Ryan combine on the outside to get past one defender. And another. And another! But don't worry, here comes Cormac."

The whole way up the right flank, Ryan and Junior had relied on quick simple passing between the two of them to advance forward by getting around Camp Craig's defenders. Now that they were in the Camp Craig danger zone, Cormac had come in to stop them. As Junior once again passed the ball inside to Ryan, Cormac sprinted out to preventatively deny the pass back outside to Junior. This is what Ryan was expecting. While acting like he was going to continue his trend of passing with Junior, at the last possible moment, Ryan spun in the opposite direction, leaving Cormac in his dust as Cormac attempted to anticipate the outside pass to Junior. Ryan was spinning off Cormac toward the inside of the field.

"What a slick move! Cormac is left out of the play, but here he comes again."

Cormac planted his foot in the grass and exploded back in Ryan's direction, but it was too late. The momentary space that Ryan had created was all that he needed.

"Craig with the shot! Jones with the tip, but no, it went in."

The last few words of the sentence were drowned out by the cheers of the Camp Adventure supporters.

Cormac didn't flail his arms in the air or yell at anyone, but from where Hermione was sitting she could see an annoyed and frustrated face.

Likewise, Ryan didn't sprint around the field and celebrate, he just turned from where he was standing and bumped his chest into Cormac's. His lips moved and said something, but only the players on the field could hear it. Cormac shoved Ryan away more delicately than normal, because everyone was watching.

"Oh perhaps, Ryan Craig has a few choice words for Cormac McLaggen. Something Ryan said seems to have upset him."

Again the two teams lined up and this time it was Camp Craig's turn to kick off and start the game. Before the end of the half, Camp Craig was able to sneak a second goal in. There was a short water break where both camp directors came down to their respective teams and tried to give them some words of encouragement. From where Hermione was sitting it seemed like a lot of the responsibility on the outcome of this game rested on Cormac's and Ryan's shoulders.

The second half began and it was again Camp Craig's turn to start the match.

"The two Camp Craig strikers kick us off, and the ball gets played backwards again to Cormac. Cormac takes a touch and looks forward, but doesn't see anything he likes. He peeks to his left and moves the ball out to the wing."

A few minutes passed as the game built up. There was a slight lull in the game until Cormac broke out in a sprint and shouted for the ball to be played to him. Ryan did his best to keep up with the swift Cormac.

"McLaggen demands the ball and Ross Armstrong answers the request with a firm pass to Cormac's feet. McLaggen pushes the ball out with his right foot and it looks like Craig will be able to swipe it back, but oh no." The commentator did his best to hold back a giggle, but the speakers picked it up. The crowd responded with oohs and ahhs.

Cormac had purposefully left the ball in a tantalizing spot for Ryan. Just as Ryan's eyes grew big and he stepped a little too overzealously, Cormac cut the ball back on a dime and the ball harmlessly rolled right between Ryan's legs remaining in Cormac's complete control the entire time. This move had the same effect as Ryan's sharp turn at the other end of the field. Instead of shooting the ball, Cormac was able to play a pass to Dayton in another channel. This time it was played in behind the speedy Camp Adventure camper, and the other camper lost a second before being forced to turn around and chase Dayton who was already on his way toward goal.

It was anyone's guess which of the boys was going to reach the ball first, but Dayton just edged the other boy out. As Dayton got a touch to the ball, again the Camp Adventure defender got his legs tangled up in Dayton's. This was no doubt a foul that warranted a free kick. There were no referees, but the "spirit of the game" dictated that Camp Craig had the right to set up their set piece.

Hermione noticed that the position on the field was almost to the exact blade of grass that Cormac and Dayton were practicing the day before. Junior and Ryan were busily setting up a wall of players the legal ten yards from the spot that the ball was going to be kicked from.

"Looks like Cormac and Dayton are going over some tactics in secret."

Cormac and Dayton were standing side by side staring at the goal in comparison to where they were standing and where the defensive wall was placed. They apparently were speaking in secret, because they both grabbed the fronts of their shirts and lifted them up to cover their mouths. It looked like they were attempting to smell the insides of their shirts. The pair of them was pointing in several directions of the goal and once they seemed agreed on what to do, they both dropped their shirts and stood over the ball.

People around Hermione and Naomi's immediate vicinity were making their predictions on what was going to happen.

"Cormac will shoot it low right."

"Cormac will shoot it just wide."

"Cormac kicks it right into the wall and hospitalizes one of the Camp Adventure kids."

Hermione had seen the boys practice this before, "Cormac puts it up over the wall and into that corner." She pointed where she meant.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath for a second and all eyes were on the two boys hovering over the ball. Cormac gave a little nod to Dayton and Dayton nodded back.

Cormac took his approach at the ball. He planted his foot just where he had the dozens of times he had practiced the same shot the day before and a number of things happened in that instant. The wall jumped trying to get as big as possible, so they could cut off Cormac's angle to the top corner. The short goalie lost the ball behind the wall and tried to shift to get a good look, and Cormac missed the ball!

Cormac stepped to the side to get out of Dayton's way as the camper followed behind and swung through the ball just like he had practiced. As Dayton came into contact with the ball, the wall had already reached the apex of its jump and was on its way down. That opened up the window for Dayton's shot to get the angle it needed. The poor goalie was still having a hard time finding the ball, and by the time he saw the direction the ball was flying in it was too late for him to make a play. The ball cascaded against the inside of the net.

Again, everyone supporting Camp Craig cheered. Dayton immediately turned to his left and hugged Cormac. The shot wasn't as perfect as Hermione knew that Cormac's would've been, and just because the young goalie was too short, Dayton's shot went in, but the elation on Dayton's face along with the rest of the Camp Craig team and even the supporters had Hermione smiling from ear to ear.

The game ended with the 3-1 score line and Camp Craig was crowned the victors with Dayton Ward being named the player of the match. Dayton was given a very small trophy, but one that he would proudly display in his camp cabin. After the ceremony that gave Dayton his trophy, the rest of the throng made its way to the amphitheater one last time.

Once everyone was seated, there was a short ceremony that awarded Camp Craig the Camp Cup. The Camp Adventure director took the modestly sized trophy and handed it over to Gary and Nicky. A lot of whooping and hollering went on from the right side of the crowd. There were some closing words and the Camp Adventure folks headed back out to the traffic circle to head to their home base.

"I'll see you around," Ryan's voice cooed one last time behind Hermione.

Hermione turned to look at him. She smiled and nodded back in his direction.

Mr. Craig waited for the last of the Camp Adventure folks to leave, before he began some final closing remarks of camp, and dismissed the campers to finish up any last minute packing and to meet back in an hour.

The walk back across Lower Bridge to the cabins was filled with noisy chatter. Everyone was recapping their favorite moments of the day. Someone who was on the basketball court was retelling a story about how Cormac and Wayne worked on a fast break to end the sequence in some intrigue pass and dunk sequence. Another was talking about some winning play Cormac made on the volleyball courts. And one last kid was trying to convince everyone that they were certain that the final goal that Cormac left for Dayton was a play he taught Cormac.

Everywhere Hermione went she couldn't get away from Cormac's name. This was confusing for her. She was certain that Cormac was going to be trouble for her. She had caught him heading from his cabin with Bri Craig and that could only mean that he didn't respect Hermione enough to treat her with the appreciation that she deserved. On the other hand, she hadn't given him the chance to really explain himself, and that may have been unfair, but did he deserve the chance to weasel his way into her good graces? And even farther, what really happened between Cormac and Bri? She never heard his explanation.

Hermione thought that she had been treating Cormac unfairly and decided that at the very least she would hear him out. She thought she heard his voice as soon as they entered the opening to the cabins. Hermione's ears led her head in the direction to look and her stomach flipped in her belly, when she saw that he was conversing with Bri again. She wanted to hate him again, but she promised herself that she was going to hear him out, but now wasn't going to be the time. Instead, she just headed to the cabins to help make sure that everyone that hadn't packed was all set to head home.

**A/N: Trouble in the waters ahead! I've already written out where this is headed and we are in for a little action, a little romance, and a little smut. And then, to all of you that want to see a lot more smut, that will be up. Just need to set the scene and solidify the characters. I want to do JKR's characters justice. (I don't think JK's Hermione would sleep with Cormac after one week of working at a camp - you know?)**

**But don't worry, it's coming.**

**jrb2009**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Here is a chapter for everyone to enjoy before the weekend!**

**Chapter 21**

Ninety percent of the camp had assembled their luggage at the top of the amphitheater steps, while the remaining ten percent left their stuff unpacked in the cabins. This ten percent were the campers that would be staying for the second week of camp as well. These were the kids like Dayton Ward that stayed multiple weeks at camp while their parents trotted around Europe for two or three weeks at a time.

Mr. Craig gave his last rehearsed speech of closing and asked that everyone that was remaining for the second week of camp would continue seating, while most of the counselors led the other ninety percent to the traffic circle where there were parents and the buses that headed to the rail station.

Hermione headed to the traffic circle and distributed hugs to her favorite campers and all of her Lady Otters. Most of the campers informed her that they would beg their parents to come back later in the summer, and some that were being picked up by their parents in the circle were almost brought to tears.

After one last round of hugs, the buses that were headed to the train station were off. Now left as only counselors, there was a feeling that the first week was done. Among the group, people were high fiving and generally excited. There was a major sense of accomplishment.

"Ok, back to the stage," Gary said once everyone was done hooting and hollering, "There will be time to celebrate tonight."

By the time the counselors returned back to the amphitheater, Mr. Craig was finishing laying out the schedule for the remaining campers.

There was going to be free time, dinner, a late night movie on an inflatable screen near the fire pit and s'mores before lights out. This was all going to be chaperoned by Mr. and Mrs. Craig, even though the counselors were more than welcome to join. Mr. Craig had to add the last point, because technically the counselors were free to spend the rest of Saturday and early Sunday however they wanted.

Back at the amphitheater stage, Mr. Craig dismissed everyone and stepped down from the stage. Even though everyone was free no one moved. The counselors were unsure how they wanted to spend their freedom, and the remaining fifteen to twenty campers were waiting to see if they could tag along with the counselors. The campers were sitting in the first couple of rows and were looking back at the top of the steps longingly at the group of counselors as Gary addressed several people.

"First off, great first week everyone. I think the campers really enjoyed it, and we made Mr. and Mrs. Craig's lives very easy. So thank you," he was addressing the counselors and people were nodding in agreement with what Gary was saying, "Go do whatever you want until dinner. Take the canoes out, go for a swim, tan – I don't care, but bring the campers if they REALLY want to go. I personally am going to take a nap."

The group laughed.

"With that being said," Nicky started, "We need you guys," Nicky pointed to the Deputy Head Counselors and Cormac, "to head to the 'store' and get anything we may need for tonight. Use this card and sign as J Craig." The female Deputy Head Counselor took the card and the other two boys followed.

"If no one has anything else to say, we will see everyone at dinner," Gary said finally dismissing the crowd.

Finally with some free time during the middle of the day, most of the group decided it would be a good time to enjoy the water. Some others, like Gary decided on napping, and a pair of boys wanted to go to the camp store to play some table tennis. A good chunk of the campers followed the pair to the camp store, and the remainder of the campers followed to the lake.

Everyone except for Eric needed to change into bathing suits. He made it a habit to only be in swim trunks rather than athletic shorts. It became a running joke that he only wore the most bizarrely patterned bottoms.

Hermione made her way toward the cabins with the rest of the troupe and broke off to get changed in her own bathing suit and retrieve a beach towel. She threw a shirt and pair of shorts over her two piece swim suit. She slid on a pair of sandals and made her way to the lakeshore.

She had a smile on her face when she saw what was in front of her. Eric was already in the water with Haley Stones. Several other boys along with most of the campers were running off the dock and jumping into the water. Nicky was surrounded by four or five others in the water in floating inter-tubes, that Hermione was curious where they were stored. A few people were lounging on the shore in nothing but bathing suits enjoying the warm summer rays. And then there was a small group that was shirtless kicking around a football.

Hermione slinked out of her outer layers and made a pile with her sandals. She swam out and grabbed onto the outside of Naomi's floatation device and joined in the conversation. The whole group had an enjoyable afternoon. Splash fights ensued, jumping and diving competitions followed, tanning by everyone occurred, and towards the end, after most of the energy had been depleted, several of the boys started grabbing people and tossing them off the dock and into the water. No one was spared.

Eventually when Hermione was caught, Eric, Ross, Terry and Wayne caught her on the ground as she tried to fight off her assailants. Hermione shouted and pleaded for them to stop, but she couldn't make a convincing argument through her giggles. Each of the boys took a limb in their hands and gently carried her to the dock. She had given up squirming, even though she had almost freed herself from Ross's grip a second previously. The quad swung her from side to side and on the count of three they tossed her off the dock and into the lake.

Hermione swore as she was flung through the air and had her opened mouth fill with water when she made contact with the liquid. When she surfaced, everyone was laughing, and she couldn't even stay mad at the boys. Now it was more fun for her as she watched the counselors hunt down their next prey.

As she watched the boys track down and catch Naomi, Hermione's thoughts drifted to Cormac. She wished that she could catch him staring at her through the corner of his eye. She wouldn't've minded if he had caught her and carried her to the edge of the water.

They enjoyed the outdoors for three hours until it was time to head in and get ready for an impromptu dinner. Everyone headed back to their cabins and showered the lake off their skin. Once out of the shower, Hermione got dressed into some cute clothes. She realized that this would be the first time that any of the campers would see her without her purple staff shirt. Thinking of that reminded her to gather up her laundry. There was a service that was going to wash all the counselors' spoiled clothes. This was important because the counselors only had enough clean staff shirts for each day of camp. They would be responsible for collecting their laundry the next morning before the newest wave of campers strolled in.

Hermione slung the laundry bag over her shoulder and headed to the cafeteria. By the time she entered the building, she was losing feeling in her fingers from the strap that she was carrying.

Hermione found the pile of matching laundry bags and dropped her sack off with the rest. She then headed to the food line and joined the counselors and campers that were already seated.

Cormac and the two Deputy Head Counselors had just returned. Apparently the liquor store was a thirty minute drive in the truck and after they bought everything they wanted, they drove to the storage barns and proceeded to work with several of the other Camp Adventure counselors to set the clearing up. Cormac reported that the ladders, lights, speakers, and generators were set to be used that night.

Hermione spent her meal mostly conversing with Naomi and Wayne. The three of them quietly spoke amongst themselves so that no wandering campers' ears could overhear them, but they silently talked excitedly about the evening.

"And what are you going to make sure to stay away from, Hermione?" Naomi asked looking in her friend's direction.

"No red drink for me," Hermione said with a sarcastic roll of the eyes.

"Yeah, this should be a lot of fun again," Wayne said, "I just hope we play all the same games again."

"You only want that because you like winning," Naomi said pulling down on Wayne's arm.

He took the hint and quickly placed a peck on her cheek.

Hermione felt like she was invading on their private moment so she let her eyes drift away. She didn't know if it was by accident or on purpose, but her eyes met Cormac's.

For the first time in over twenty-four hours, he flashed a charming smile in her direction, and Hermione returned it for a brief moment before she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Once the stray hair was tamed, Hermione saw that Bri seemed to be squeezing her cup so hard that it looked like it was stressing to not crack. Hermione hated to admit it, but it caused her some sense of joy to see Bri's reaction. She still hadn't heard from Cormac, but she was feeling more opened to what he had to say now.

After the meal, the campers were expected at the camp store where Mr. and Mrs. Craig would begin taking over all the responsibility. The campers would have the opportunity to spend some more of their parents' money and stay in a confined space where the pair of Craigs could watch them all, before letting them loose at the bonfire and outdoor movie after the sun set.

With a little more free time on her hands, Hermione looked to have a little alone time. She snuck away to her cabin and took out the book that she had neglected to read. She spent a good chunk of her free time involved with the piece of literature, before she got a little too comfortable. She kept readjusting herself, until she was completely lying on her side. She told herself she would close her book and her eyes for just a moment and before she knew it, she opened her eyes and it was fifteen minutes until nine.

Fortunately, Hermione was wearing what she was planning on wearing to the counselor get together. All she needed to do was put on the slightest amount of makeup and counter the mild case of bedhead she had just given herself. She was out her door at 8:59 and was going to be late, but she was happy with how quickly she had pulled herself together. As she stepped into the clearing, the campers seemed to be halfway through their movie, and now, s'mores creation was in full stride. Hermione snuck away in the back of the clearing without being seen – not that it was completely necessary, but she thought it would be better to be a little covert.

Hermione was the last person to arrive at the amphitheater and once she was there the whole group made their way to the vehicles to the storage barns. Hermione rode in the golf cart while Nicky drove several others. They knew that they were close when they heard music coming from behind the trees. Hearing the music also alerted them that they were going to be second in arriving to Camp Adventure.

Gary parked the truck and Nicky parked the golf cart next to the Camp Adventure modes of transportation, and the group of eighteen stepped out to the clearing. All the Camp Adventure folks were hovered around one of the many coolers waiting for the Camp Craig clan to arrive.

"And here come the champions," Junior said stepping out of the semi-circle of Camp Adventure counselors toward Gary and Nicky, "But better late than never." He shook Gary's hand and hugged Nicky.

"Well, we got you guys this week. We will see what happens in seven days." Nicky said.

"But in the meantime," Gary took something from behind his back and it was the Camp Cup, "I'm going to have a celebratory drink out of my new goblet." He worked quickly to open a bottle of beer and poured the gold liquid in the unsanitary cup and drank from it.

Several people looked on amused, but most appeared to be horrified.

"Ok, you may have won the kids' competitions, but let's see who can drink," Junior said and a few people cheered in excitement, "Line 'em up!"

Without any hesitation, people ran into the Camp Adventure storage barn and returned with folding tables. Cups and beer were distributed and the games began. Camp Adventure swept the Camp Craigers in three straight wins and playful banter began across several of those on either side of the table. The Camp Adventure folks were ribbing that they were clearly the drinking champions, while the Camp Craig counselors claimed they were best at the physical and mental challenges at camp.

"Can't we all just get along," a voice came from the opposite side of the table as Hermione. The words seemed to be directed at only her.

"Hi Ryan," Hermione said without needing to look up.

The game of flipcup had ended and people were beginning to disperse around the clearing. Hermione looked up and down the table and saw that Cormac was looking in her direction. She was pretty certain that she wanted his presence around her, but she was denied that pleasure. She saw that as Cormac made to head down to her end of the table, Gary grabbed him and gave him a few words.

"Hermione? Did you hear me?" Ryan's voice said from across the table again. Apparently, he had tried to get her attention.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" she apologized.

"I asked, if I could walk with you to get a drink," he repeated himself.

Hermione looked back down the table, and made eye contact with Cormac, but he seemed rooted where he was standing.

"Sure," she said circling around to get on his side of the table, "But this time no red drink."

Ryan led her toward a cooler on the clearing floor that was filled with colourful drinks in bottles. Hermione retrieved her faithful purplish-pink drink and twisted the top off. Ryan dug around in a cooler resting on a nearby table and popped off the cap to a beer.

"Cheers," Ryan said clicking their bottles together.

"Cheers," Hermione responded as she moved to tip the bottle to her lips.

"Whoa!" Ryan said reaching out with his free hand to stop her.

"What?" Hermione said holding the drink away from her face so she could see what could possibly be stopping her from drinking it. She assumed there was something in it, but it looked harmless.

"Ryan, what?!" she was feeling nervous.

"When you cheers you need to make good eye contact with that person," he informed her.

"Or else what?" Hermione questioned. She thought he was being a stickler about etiquette.

"Or else you will be cursed with bad sex for seven years," Ryan told her.

"Oh, well then that shouldn't really change that much for you," Hermione said with a little sass.

He gave her a winning smile and said, "I hate to admit it, but that was good."

"Ok, so good eye contact, huh?" Hermione reiterated.

Ryan nodded, "Cheers."

"Cheers."

Hermione looked up into the boy's face. His brown hair was messed up in just the right way, and his eyes were stuck between some shade of blue and green, or maybe even grey. He was cleanly shaven and his steely eyes bore into her.

They both picked their bottles to their lips and left their eyes on each other. To break the silence Hermione spoke.

"How was that?" Hermione asked with some cheek.

"I don't think you need to worry about that silly curse," Ryan seemed to bite his cheek, while Hermione bit her lip to keep from smiling too hard, "Alright, let's head back to this party."

Ryan placed a hand on the small of Hermione's back and led her back toward the group of counselors. Hermione made a B-line for Naomi and Wayne. She was surprised when Ryan kept step for step with her.

Ryan reintroduced himself to Naomi and formally introduced himself to Wayne. Naomi threw Hermione a look with two raised eyebrows. A few other Camp Adventure counselors gravitated toward where Ryan was standing and a few Camp Craig counselors joined the small circle to see what was happening.

Ryan was telling an anecdote about the basketball game and how as hard as he tried, he couldn't keep up with Wayne on the court.

"I swear to god it was like he was on skates out there," Ryan said. He was met by a round of laughter by all.

Ryan maintained everyone's attention and kept everyone laughing. Naomi circled the group and made her way to Hermione's direction.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" Naomi questioned Hermione.

"Doing what on purpose?" Hermione was honestly confused.

"Playing both these camp golden boys against each other," Naomi said eyeing Ryan. At that exact moment he looked in Hermione's direction and flashed her a quick smile, before he went on to boast over another moment of Wayne's brilliance during the basketball game.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said insisting on playing dumb.

Hermione circled her head around involuntarily to see what else was going on around the clearing and she caught a glimpse of Cormac involved in a conversation with the Head Counselors. He wasn't looked directly at Hermione, but at Ryan. He seemed to have a serious internal struggle with himself. He looked like he was teetering on stepping towards the group that Hermione and Ryan were in, but also seemed held back by something. After watching him for ten seconds, it appeared like Cormac had decided to approach, but he was physically halted by Gary's arm.

The Head Counselor had grabbed Cormac by his bicep and shook his head. Cormac gave Gary a look of loathing, but apparently he didn't want to disobey whatever Gary disagreed with. Cormac took his bottle to his lips and turned back and did his best to get invested in the conversation.

The rest of the evening, Hermione barely saw Cormac. She would catch flashes of him, but he never approached her. Instead, she found that she was always in the company of Ryan. Ryan didn't make bad company, and she found that the more she drank the more she liked him. After listening to Cormac speak so poorly of him the week before, Hermione assumed that he wasn't a good person. He seemed bearable and even charming. Not unlike someone else she knew.

Hermione made some memories that night. She was a part of a winning beer pong team, she chugged her first beer, and was on a smaller team of flip cup with Naomi, Ryan, and Wayne, and they beat another team of four.

Hermione was pleased with how drunk she was feeling, and there was no odd back pain either. She felt very in control of herself, but also felt much freer.

"Is it really that time?" Wayne asked after he caught a glimpse of his watch.

"What time is it?" Naomi asked him.

"Almost one thirty," Wayne said yawning.

"So almost bedtime?" Naomi said answering his yawn with one of her own.

"I think so," Wayne said looking around the clearing and it looked like a lot of bodies had cleared out and headed back to their respective camps.

"Are you guys going to play again?" two new counselors had just approached the table that they were just playing on.

Hermione looked at Ryan and he shrugged at her. Next, she looked at Naomi and Wayne and they gave her the slightest shake of the head. Last, Hermione looked across the table at the other counselors they had just played against and they gave a combination of a nod and a shrug.

"You guys head back to camp," Hermione said addressing Naomi and Wayne. Then she turned to the new comers, "We can play one."

Naomi and Wayne said good night to everyone, while the new comers grabbed some new beers. The game didn't take too long, but Hermione's team won again. Hermione took a big yawn herself as they finished the game. It was a good long day and now she was feeling like sleep was necessary.

On the other side of the clearing, the Head Counselors were barking orders at the counselors that were still left.

"Uh oh. Time to go," Ryan said taking Hermione by the wrist and sneaking her toward the path that led to Camp Craig.

"What are you doing, Ryan?" Hermione questioned him with a very confused tone.

"They're starting to clean up. And I don't want to be there for that," he told her.

Hermione laughed.

"Can I walk you to your cabin?" he asked her.

"But how are you going to get home from Camp Craig?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's not that bad of a walk back through the woods," he told her waving his hand like it wasn't a big deal.

"Well if you want to get out of cleaning so badly, I could use the company of a big strong boy," Hermione said turning to walk down the path.

"Well you have to admit that I'm not half bad," Ryan purred.

"Well that's still to be determined," Hermione said continuing down the path.

**A/N: Thoughts on Ryan Craig?**

**jrb2009**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hi everyone,**

**I'm so sorry that I've allowed all this time to get away from me without posting. I've been struggling to find time to write recently and I hate it. That combined with a serious case of writer's block and a major plot gap during editing led to the delay in me posting this. So I apologize and hope to be posting more frequently again for you! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 22**

That night ended and Hermione couldn't be surer that she felt that Ryan was a good guy. He walked her all the way to her cabin and was a complete gentleman. He gave her plenty of space on the walkway and didn't stand too close to make her uncomfortable or walk too far to seem cold and distant. He proved to her that he was an intelligent young man by identifying numerous different constellations in the night sky. And just like Cormac had, he caught her once as she stumbled across Lower Bridge.

Once the pair of them reached Hermione's porch, Ryan halted in his tracks at the bottom of the steps.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. She wasn't planning on having him come in, but almost everyone came to the top of the steps with her.

"This is where I say good night, Hermione," Ryan said with a smile and a yawn, "I have a pretty far walk back to my own cabin." He pointed in a direction against the back of the Lady Otter's cabin and across the lake.

"Well thank you for walking me to my cabin, Ryan," Hermione said. He could see her smile from the delicate porch light.

"Anytime," Ryan said still standing waiting for her to get safely inside.

Hermione turned the doorknob and walked in. She gave the handsome boy one last wave before she closed the door behind her.

After Ryan watched Hermione close the door, he looked down at his feet a smiled. Hermione seemed like an intoxicating young lady. He had truly enjoyed himself, and he was looking forward to getting to know her even more.

He turned on his heels and headed back toward the storage barns. If he was lucky one of the Camp Adventure golf carts would still be there and the keys would still be in the ignition. Yes he was drunk, but the part of town where the camps were would absolutely be deserted at this time of night. If the golf carts were gone, or the keys were hidden, he would need to make the walk back, which wouldn't be a big deal, but would be a bit of a hassle.

Ryan crossed over Lower Bridge and continued passed the cafeteria and woodshop. As he went to approach the Camp Craig path that led to the storage barn, a group of five people were coming out of the path.

"Craig? What are you doing here?" Gary asked from the head of the group.

"I just walked Hermione back to her cabin," Ryan explained.

"You did what?" a voice from the back said.

Cormac stepped forward.

"You heard what I said," Ryan said standing up a little straighter.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cormac said matching Ryan by standing as tall as possible.

"It means whatever the fuck I want it to mean," Ryan was feeling on top of the world.

"I don't think I like that tone, Craig," Gary came to stand behind Cormac. Those two side-by-side looked imposing. Ryan would never lay a hand on either of the two female counselors that were part of the group of five, but Gary and Cormac were accompanied by another tall, albeit skinny counselor.

Cormac and Ryan stood nose to nose for a second longer until Gary chimed in again, "Why don't you head home, Craig?"

Ryan ignored Gary's comment and spoke at Cormac, "Feeling pretty big with your friends, McLaggen? It doesn't matter. Seems like your girl has an eye for me." He pushed passed Cormac and made sure to throw his shoulder into Cormac's chest as he passed.

Cormac made to turn on Ryan, but Gary caught Cormac by the shoulders, "He's drunk. Let him go."

Ryan continued to the storage barns and swore loudly when he couldn't find the keys to any of the Camp Adventure golf carts.

Cormac walked back with the group of five until Lower Bridge, when the Head Counselors turned to the Head Counselor cabins, and the other pair headed for Upper Bridge. Cormac crossed the bridge and made his way down the path that led to the Hares' and Otters' Counselors' cabins. He was halfway down the Hares' path, but turned around. As quietly as he could, he peeked through Hermione's window and felt at ease when he saw her resting peacefully in her bed. At least from where he was standing, it looked like he hadn't hurt her. With his conscious feeling a little less burdened, he headed back to his cabin for a good night's sleep.

The next day, Hermione woke up later than she anticipated. She barely made it to the tail end of brunch. She had to get the scraps that hadn't been thrown out yet, but she was able to eat a little. She wasn't hungover badly. Her head was a little foggy, but that could've been from the fact that she had just woke up. She was just exhausted from the day of competition, and staying up late.

All the campers that were spilling over from week one to week two had finished their meal had been brought to the camp store to spend their time until the new arrivals to camp showed up. The counselors were still huddled around a table in the dining hall. Most were drinking water and orange juice. Several had their hands in their heads and other were wearing sunglasses, feeling a little sensitive to the sun after a late evening of drinking.

Hermione was putting her dishes in the dish return when Mrs. Craig walked in.

"Hermione, you have a delivery waiting for you in the traffic circle," was all that she said.

"Me?" Hermione asked to Mrs. Craig and then turned to look at the rest of the counselors. Everyone seemed puzzled. There was a camp mailroom that normally received packages.

Hermione didn't receive any sort of answer. Instead, she exited the dining hall and made her way to the traffic circle. Hermione felt foolish and embarrassed when she circled around the camp Gatehouse. Parked in front was the teal Camp Adventure truck. Sitting on the hood of the truck was Ryan.

"Well, you took your sweet time," Ryan said unable to hold a smile back.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked standing with her arms folded across her chest.

"I decided to take these flowers for a quick drive," Ryan said sarcastically. On the side that Hermione couldn't see, Ryan lifted up a small bouquet of summer flowers.

"What?" Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Obviously, these are for you," Ryan said extending the flowers wrapped in paper toward her.

"I understand that, but are you sure?" she questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure that these are for you," Ryan laughed at Hermione's reaction.

"Well," she received the gift and was feeling very shy, "thank you very much."

"I just had a lot of fun with you last night," he said reaching out and gently touching the side of her arm.

Hermione smiled. Ryan mimicked her.

Their nice moment was disturbed when a large truck pulled into the circle. The truck honked looking for the teal truck to move.

Flustered, Ryan panicked for a second, "Oh, shit. I guess I have to go. But I'll see you around, Hermione." He waved as he jumped into the cab of his truck.

"Ok," Hermione said waving back at him.

As Ryan pulled out of the drive, Mr. Craig stepped out of the Gatehouse to meet the truck that now replaced where Ryan was parked.

"Ah, Hermione. Good morning. Nice flowers," Mr. Craig said, "Are you here to pick up your laundry?"

The man from the laundry service dropped off all the laundry bags and Mr. Craig worked to move all the bags into the Gatehouse.

"Hermione, feel free to take yours, but can you also let the counselors know that their laundry is ready. They should be relieved since it's almost time to retrieve the campers."

Hermione agreed that she would do that. She picked out her bag, quickly popped her head in the cafeteria to inform everyone that laundry pickup was ready and ignored everyone's comments about her flowers.

Hermione returned to her cabin and the first thing she did was search for a vessel for her flowers. She didn't have anything readily available in her cabin, so she ran the tap in her bathroom and got the tips of the stems wet and wrapped the ends in a damp, spare washcloth. She made a mental note to retrieve something that could be used as a vase either from the kitchens or the arts and crafts room. Once the flowers wouldn't die for a few hours, Hermione put her laundry away and put on a freshly cleaned staff shirt.

By the time that those chores were taken care of, it was time to head back to the amphitheater. Mr. Craig distributed out their new schedules. Hermione's wasn't much different than the first week, but she did get to go on the bus to meet the campers at the train station so she was excited for that. The last thing that Mr. Craig reminded the counselors was that there was a heat wave expected to roll in toward the end of the week and last six or seven days, so as always and as best practice constantly try to keep the campers hydrated. With that, Mr. Craig dismissed everyone in their separate directions.

Hermione had a great group of Lady Otters again and couldn't be happier to start the second week. The week flew by, more or less, exactly like the first week, except for one major difference. Every day at lunch time, Mrs. Craig would walk in and tell Hermione that she had a delivery waiting for her in the traffic circle.

On Monday, Hermione was surprised again. She was also slightly embarrassed when she came back into the dining hall with another small bouquet of flowers. Immediately, her newest group of Lady Otters had questions for her about Hermione's mysterious suitor. Hermione did her very best to make sure everyone was aware that the gesture was not a big deal even though her ears and cheeks turned a slight rose color.

On Tuesday, Hermione was less surprised and half-expected it when Mrs. Craig walked in and informed Hermione that she had another delivery. Hermione stood up and trotted out of the cafeteria with all eyes on her. Once again she was turning a blush shade. This time Hermione and Ryan spent the remainder of her lunch period on the hood of Ryan's teal colored truck. The pair of them sat and chatted while Hermione held a bouquet of lilies that were about to bloom along with several other species fo filler flora. Ryan looked down at his watch and was hesitant to head back to Camp Adventure, but he departed.

"Same time tomorrow?" he shot her a smile.

Hermione didn't have anything to say for a second so she just nodded, but then added, "Thanks for the flowers."

The following day, Mrs. Craig didn't even need to say anything. Hermione stood up and headed out to the traffic circle. She was wearing a little make up, and had spent a little more time brushing her hair that day. Again, Hermione and Ryan spent their lunch hour on the hood of his truck chatting and flirting.

"Are you teasing me, Ryan?" Hermione said taking the length of her hair in her hands and expecting it.

Ryan was laughing with her, "No, no. I would be too scared to tease someone like you," he was smiling at her and she both loved and hated when he smiled at her like that, "I'm just saying it's different." He was referring to her hair that seemed to have received a little more attention that morning.

"Well I thought it looked nice," Hermione said with a little attitude.

"Don't get me wrong, it looks great," they made eye contact for a second, before Hermione could stand looking at the handsome boy anymore.

On Friday, Hermione actively made sure not to do anything different in her morning ritual, like she had the day before. This time when Ryan showed up he wouldn't have anything to poke fun at her for. Around lunchtime it started to rain. The weather had pushed back a few days. Following this rain storm, the heat wave was expected to hit for a few days. The summer shower was coming on strong. This time, Mrs. Craig came running in from the outdoors and told Hermione to head toward the traffic circle. Hermione didn't have an umbrella. Instead, she tried to outrun the rain, but of course that didn't work. She reached safety when she got to the Gatehouse. She was going to cut through the building to get to the traffic circle, but Ryan was already inside waiting for her. His hair was matted down by the rain, and his tshirt was flecked with large raindrops. Water trickled down his cheeks and neck. There was no way for Hermione to describe it. Ryan looked sexy.

Again, he had a small bundle of flowers in his hand.

"The florist must know you by name now," Hermione said receiving her gift.

"Yeah, but by this point they give me a great rate," Ryan joked.

Hermione chuckled at his wit.

"I liked what you did with your hair yesterday better," Ryan teased Hermione again. He took some of her muddled hair in his hands.

"It's different," Hermione tried to keep up with his wit.

"You know what else is different?" Ryan said quickly.

Before Hermione could respond in answering his question, he was kissing her. Ryan brought one hand to her face and cupped her cheek. It was one kiss, but it was a good kiss. Maybe even a great kiss. When Ryan pulled away, he licked the tips of his lips for a second and smiled. He didn't bring any attention to what he had just done. He dropped his hand from her cheek and trailed it down her collarbone, to her shoulder and down her arm, until he broke contact with her.

There was a small sitting area in the Gatehouse and that was where the pair of them spent the rest of the lunch period until Ryan had to return to Camp Adventure. Ryan didn't kiss Hermione as he left, he acted like it had never happened and it made Hermione want another kiss more badly.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Ryan said and he brush Hermione's arm and gave her a fiery look with his eyes.

"I look forward to it," Hermione said truthfully.

She watched out a nearby window as the teal truck tore out of the Camp Craig traffic circle. It slung a ton of brown water and mud in the air. The rain was really coming down.

Hermione turned to head out of the same door she had entered, and just as she reached out for the door knob, the door swung opened.

The two people on either side of the door looked surprised.

"Oh," the voice on the other side of the door said.

"Cormac?" Hermione was very confused.

Cormac was in the process of collapsing a large umbrella, and was now standing just on the other side of the door in the pouring rain awkwardly. He was unsure of what to do with the object he had in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him. She meant to ask him what he was doing at the Gatehouse.

"Currently? I'm getting rained on," he said with a weak smile.

"Well, either come in or open that," she said pointing to the umbrella.

Cormac popped the umbrella opened and some of the rain droplets splashed on Hermione.

"Sorry," he said. The light mist stunned her more than anything.

"So what are you really doing here?" Hermione questioned, "Are you spying on me?"

"No, not at all. But it's raining," he motioned to the present weather patterns, "and you don't have a jacket or umbrella."

Hermione looked at him with eyes that said, "So?"

"So, I thought I would help you out," he moved to the side so that Hermione could fit under the oversized parasol.

It was a really sweet gesture. It was a warm rain, so there was no fear for Hermione to get sick, maybe a little uncomfortable would be the worst she would feel, but it was a nice thing to do.

"Thanks," Hermione said as she walked back to the dining hall with Cormac. Neither of them said a word, and it was awkward. If they bumped shoulders under the umbrella, they would look at the other quickly and then force their stares forward again.

They had barely spoken over the week. They still had the tennis lesson together, but barely had anything to say. And Cormac no longer worked the camp store. Hermione felt slightly at fault because she had never given Cormac the opportunity to explain himself with his Bri situation and that seemed unfair. It was mostly unfair to Cormac, because ultimately he deserved a chance to explain himself, especially since he seemed to really like Hermione. But it wasn't only Cormac that it was unfair too, because Hermione was almost certain that she was starting to like Cormac as well. Unfortunately for the two of them, their silence and passive avoidance for the week made it almost too far to reconcile. Both were too proud to bring up anything, but Cormac was still a good enough guy to retrieve Hermione with an umbrella.

Of course Cormac had heard about Hermione and Ryan through the camp gossip grapevine, and it didn't sit well with him at all. But he knew that he had absolutely no right to say anything, especially given his and Hermione's very brief history.

"Thanks, Cormac," Hermione said as they stepped into the dining hall.

"Anytime," he said shaking the umbrella out and leaving it at the entrance to drip dry.

The room was breaking up for the next session, and the schedule was beginning to be modified due to the weather. The outdoor activities were being cancelled and new indoor alternatives were being offered. Instead of canoeing, tennis, basketball or volleyball, the Arts and Crafts building was going to be opened for an afternoon session, board games in the dining hall were going to be offered, and a session in the Camp Store with all the goodies in there was going to be available.

Hermione was still able to bring a group to the Academic Building, so her lesson plan for her fourth period wasn't going to go to waste. Following her Academic session, the rain seemed to come down even stronger, but back in the Dining Hall she was informed that the tennis session was obviously still cancelled, so she was going to be asked to help with an impromptu board games session in the dining hall, which she was ok with because she didn't want to head back outside and experience what she could only assume was the end of days.

The most popular auxiliary session was the Camp Store option, so most of the campers retreated there along with most of the counselors to handle such a large group of kids. But a good amount of campers remained behind and Hermione and Cormac were able to monitor the group. Being restricted to two or three different tables seemed to respark something. It wasn't quite on the level of bringing flowers to her once a day, but Hermione remembered that Cormac in smaller groups was quite enjoyable. He was serious when he needed to be serious, he was playful when he needed to be playful, and Hermione wasn't completely sure or not, but she thought he let her win.

After Hermione had finished winning in a classic Hasbro family board game, Dayton suggested to the group that was playing with Hermione and Cormac that retrieving a combination of everything from the soda machine was in order.

"Cormac, do you want one?" Dayton said looking over his shoulder to his beloved counselor.

"I'm ok. Thanks, buddy," Cormac said smiling at him. Dayton turned to run off and lead the charge to the soda fountain. Cormac stopped him in his tracks. "Hey, aren't you going to ask Hermione?"

Hermione peered out of the corner of her eye with a wry smile at Cormac.

Dayton stopped and turned back around to face Hermione, "Hermione, do you want anything?"

"I'm fine. You're sweet, Dayton. Thank you," she replied.

"See. She didn't want anything," Dayton directed his words at Cormac.

"I didn't say she did want anything. I just want you to know it's polite to ask a young lady," Cormac said pointing at Hermione.

Hermione did her best to brush off Cormac's comment with one good natured roll of the eyes. She started spending her energy by collecting the pieces of the game and placing them in the broken cardboard box they belonged in. Once Cormac understood what she was doing, he made to help her. The last thing they put away was the board that folded in half. Cormac handed it to Hermione and she laid it on top of the rest of the pieces.

"Thanks," Cormac said once she had taken the board. It was the only thing they said during their cleanup of the game. They were in danger of encroaching upon some awkward silence, but just as the window from the uneasy stillness crept on them, Hermione spoke.

"Did you let me win that last game?" she questioned him.

"What? No," Cormac said with a shocked face.

"Are you sure?" she peered at him through the side of her eyes.

"I swear, I didn't let you win," he held up a hand as if he were taking an oath in court.

"I guess that wouldn't be like you to let someone win," Hermione pointed out.

"You're close," Cormac pointed out to her, "It's not so much that I would let someone win, but I wouldn't actively allow myself to lose."

"Of course not," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'm kidding," he thought she was annoyed with him. He reached out his hand to her arm. When their skin came in contact, there was a jolt that shocked both of them. Cormac released her immediately hoping that Hermione hadn't felt what he just felt. It was the first time all week that they had skin-on-skin contact.

The way that Hermione looked from the spot that he had touched her back up to his face, he knew that she felt something. It was possible that it wasn't the same electric voltage that Cormac felt, but she appeared to have felt something. He didn't know this, but she felt the same thing.

By this point Dayton and his crew had gravitated to another table and had taken to another game. No one paid Cormac and Hermione the slightest bit of attention as they connected again for a moment.

Cormac had the gears in his head whirring at breakneck speeds. He was a proud young man. Cormac was known to have the personality traits of most Gryffindors, but often took on the uglier side of those characteristics. Cormac was brave and daring, but mostly he was foolhardy and self-righteous. What he was about to do was drastically out of character. He took a deep breath.

"I need to come clean with you and apologize," his voice was feeble and soft.

Hermione's eyes almost snapped out of her head. Where were his next words going to take him? She didn't say anything. She just waited for him to continue.

When she was silent, he proceeded with more words, "That day," he paused to try to think of exactly the right words, "last week." Pause, "When you saw me with…" he paused again.

Hermione could hardly believe that Cormac was appearing to explain himself. She must've had a dumbfounded look on her face, because Cormac stopped himself.

"Do you not want to hear this?" he asked her.

Hermione was still shocked. He needed to repeat himself before she found that she was capable of shaking her head side-to-side to indicate that she was listening.

"So when I was leaving my cabin with," another hesitation, "You-Know-Who."

Later it would be funny for Hermione to compare the Dark Lord with Bri, but she knew what he meant.

"I was an ass." Cormac said.

Hermione still didn't say anything. In response, she just gave him an impatient, testy look.

"I was bigger than an ass," Cormac had her attention and he wanted to really come clean with Hermione, "I wasn't thinking straight. I was a jerk – mixed with an idiot – mixed with a blockhead – mixed with an ass. I was all those things in one."

Hermione didn't like where this was going. It was making her feel stupid for trusting him in the first place. And it was showing on her face.

"BUT." Cormac had to keep her attention for just a little longer until he could fully explain, "Like I said at the time, it wasn't what it looked like."

Hermione went to open her mouth to remind him how much she hated when he said those words together, but he stopped her.

"I know what you're going to say, but please let me finish." Hermione closed her mouth, "Yes, Bri did come over to my cabin. And yes we were hooking up," Cormac said this with a very somber look on his face.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. Was he gloating about this now? She didn't want to hear about Cormac's sexual advances with another girl while he and Hermione were an unofficial Camp Craig item.

"But I couldn't go through with it. I know that that isn't a justified reason for what I was doing. You can argue that I shouldn't've been in that position in the first place," the way he said that sentence tweaked Hermione in the wrong direction and she shot him a hardly noticeable glare, but he caught on.

"I'm sorry. You could argue that, and you would be one hundred percent correct." He paused to make sure that Hermione understood him. She was pleased to see that he corrected himself, "but I couldn't go through with it, because I was thinking about you."

Out of context, the idea was sweet. Cormac couldn't get Hermione out of his mind, but he was with another girl at the time. So clearly, he was still at fault.

"I'll be completely honest with you. We were kissing and her shirt got halfway off…"

"Stop. I don't want to hear all the details," Hermione said holding up a hand. She was on the verge of checking out of the conversation.

"I swear that is as far as we got, and I stopped. I didn't want to hurt you," Cormac could see the look of disbelief on Hermione's face. "And I know that, yes I did hurt you. And maybe the truth is hurting to hear it, but," he paused and took one more deep breath and took a sidebar, "This is really hard for me to say," Hermione could tell that he meant that, "But I hope that now that you know the truth, I can make it up to you and we can try to start over. Or something like that."

Everything he had said sounded so sincere. Cormac could've been the smoothest talker Hermione had ever met, so she didn't want to believe him, but she couldn't help but smile just a hair.

"I'm not saying that I forgive you, because that is pretty unforgiveable," Hermione started.

Cormac cut her off, "I absolutely understand. And it was a horrible thing to do." He was just happy that she was responding. Truthfully, in his opinion, they weren't technically a couple or officially exclusive, but he wasn't going to argue that point with Hermione.

Hermione slightly enjoyed seeing Cormac kiss her ass, but mostly she was impressed that Cormac had given her his version of an apology. "Like I was saying, this isn't me saying that it is ok, but," she looked into Cormac's eyes with a warm gaze of her own, "I really appreciate you saying that."

"You are really special, and at the very least you deserve my honesty and my apology," Cormac looked warmly back at her.

The doors burst open and the group that was heading in from the Camp Store were flooding into the cafeteria. Hermione was actually disappointed when the period ended and the rest of camp joined the small intimate group of board gamers. She was beginning to remember why she enjoyed Cormac's company. He was warm and sometimes thoughtful. She was impressed that he was able to put his pride aside to do what Hermione understood was the "right" thing. A certain weight seemed to be lifted off of their shoulders after that conversation. Things didn't go back to normal like they were during the pre-Bri encounter, but the pair were much more civil.

For instance, now they were greeting each other in passing, and smiling at each other from across the Camp Store or Dining Hall. Hermione found that she was in slightly better spirits after their conversation.

Friday ended and Saturday was the Camp Cup. That week was meant to be hosted at Camp Adventure, but the sports facilities were built too close to the lake and drainage was poor. Even though the rain subsided overnight, there wasn't anything useable at Camp Adventure's fields after the downpour.

That morning Hermione was fortunate enough to sit with Cormac and his Hares during breakfast. Dayton was present and she forgot how much she liked him. The boy didn't stop talking about how excited he was for a chance at the Camp Cup double. Hermione made eye contact with Cormac twice during the meal and both times they smiled and shied away from the other. If anyone was observing them as a third party member they would've thought the interaction was cute.

Hermione walked with Cormac and the pair of them led the Hares and the Lady Otters to the amphitheater. Cormac and Hermione shepherded the campers into the middle of the aisle that they chose to sit in while the pair of them sat on the edge closest to the aisle. Hermione was the last person seated in the row. They sat patiently as the rest of Camp Craig sat down. It wasn't long until the members of Camp Adventure started to stroll in. Hermione was speaking to a pair of her Otters across Cormac's body when a hand caressed behind her ear. Immediately, she shot up and looked over her shoulder to see who it was.

"Hey," Ryan said tossing a wink at her.

Hermione smiled back and mouthed "Hey" in his direction.

Cormac made a derisive sound that was only meant for himself, but Hermione caught the noise.

Hermione wanted to smack Cormac on the arm, but held back the urge. She didn't think their friendship was recovered to that point yet. Instead, she rolled her eyes at him.

"I just can't wait for our game," Cormac said again, mostly to himself.

"You boys need to learn to play nice," Hermione said to him, "he isn't so bad."

"He's not great," Cormac attempted to correct her.

"Don't be jealous," she immediately regretted saying that.

"Jealous?! Of him?!"

**A/N: Again, super sorry that this took so long to get posted for you. And I know it is a bit longer than my normal chapters, but I needed to work in Cormac's confession to Hermione sooner here than I originally intended. After editing and preparing for the next coming chapters, I needed to put that piece into the story here. Hopefully, it will make sense as you read the next few chapters.**

**jrb2009**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I need to do a better job posting for you guys more regularly. I apologize for the inconsistency.**

**Chapter 23**

Luckily for Cormac, Mr. Craig welcomed everyone for the second Camp Cup of the year. Hermione tried to make a mental note to remember what Cormac meant by "Jealous?! Of him?!"

The Camp Cup went on without a hitch again. Several of the highlights included Hermione's academic biathletes pulling out a come from behind win in the Trivial Pursuit-based game and another win in Final Jeopardy of the second academic challenge. By lunchtime, there was another runaway victory for Camp Craig. Even though it wasn't as dominant of a margin of certain victory as the first week, no matter the outcome of the football match, Camp Craig would be crowned champions again.

From Hermione's point of view – and she was pretty sure she wasn't alone – the best part of the football match was the internal competition between Cormac and Ryan. They were both so similar in the sport that anytime either of them would best the other, it was always impressive. Anytime Ryan would shift himself around Cormac the crowd would be delighted. If Cormac would make an impressive recovery run and tackle the ball away from Ryan, the crowd would respond with applause for his effort.

Hermione and Naomi had the same seats from the previous week and were anxious for the game to kick-off. Not long into the game, Ryan scored the first goal through the run of play. Cormac was too high up the field and after a Camp Adventure clearance, Ryan picked the ball up around the halfway line. Skillfully, Ryan controlled the ball between his feet and turned to attack. Despite Cormac's best efforts to hinder the attack, Ryan was too fast and had too far of a head start to get caught.

Once Ryan had a head of steam and was moving toward the goal, he couldn't be stopped. Camp Craig's Ross wasn't blessed with the gift of pace and Ryan moved around him easily. Bri tried to recover and stop her brother, but he was too fast for his twin sister. Ryan was left alone against Wayne.

Wayne wasn't a trained football goalkeeper, but admittedly he stopped more than he let in due to his athleticism. Wayne tried to step out and close the angle on the attacker, but Ryan expected it. With a cheeky touch, Ryan lifted the ball into the air. Wayne planted his feet and jumped to swat at the ball. Not only could Wayne jump high, he was also long. Despite his best effort to deny the goal; however, Ryan had lifted the ball just out of Wayne's reach, and once it was over the top of him, there was no chance in stopping it. The ball landed on the goal line and bounced into the net. 1-0 Camp Adventure.

Camp Craig weren't going to get bested for long though. After the second half, Camp Craig started with the ball and they were quick off the mark to score. Dayton scored a blue-collar goal, by fighting off a centerback and using his pace to beat the same goalie from the week before.

Camp Craig's second goal was a true strike. The pressure was mounting again and again on the Camp Adventure goal, and the defense was sitting farther and farther back. The compacted defense made it difficult for Cormac – or any of the team – to slot a pass to Dayton to get away and score. With each attempted pass, the Camp Adventure defense would just kick the ball away as far as they could. While this kept the ball out of their net, it only gave the ball right back to Camp Craig to try to find the key to unlock the tight defense.

After being denied four or five times, Cormac was starting to get frustrated. He would receive the ball and look to slot Dayton in, but something wasn't to his liking. Cormac was moving at his fastest speed with Ryan nipping at his heels. He looked up to try to see where Dayton was, but apparently the boy wasn't moving in the right space. Cormac pointed out with his hand the direction he wanted Dayton to run in, but by then it was too late and the space had been closed by the defense. To maintain possession of the ball, Cormac sprayed the ball to the left where Bri was.

Cormac stopped running and shouted his instructions to Dayton. Dayton shot Cormac back a look that seemed to contradict him. Cormac's body language seemed frustrated, but he began to play again. He circled the center of the field until he got the ball. Again, he darted forward. To Hermione, it looked like Dayton had followed instructions perfectly, but again Cormac was on a different page than the boy.

From the stands it sounded like Cormac said something like, "NO! FUCKING THERE!" he pointed in the opposite direction.

Again, he had to pull the ball back so that he wouldn't lose possession to Ryan. He and Dayton exchanged words one more time. Cormac ended the conversation by waving a dismissive hand at Dayton.

For the third time in that possession, Cormac received the ball and bounded passed his first defender. Next in his line of sight was Ryan. Feeling extra frustrated and extra competitive, Cormac reached deep into his bag of tricks. Hermione couldn't even describe the move that Cormac used. He chopped the ball behind the back of one leg and it seemed like he was going to lose control. Ryan adjusted his weight to snatch up the seemingly loose ball, but in a flash, Cormac's same leg snapped around the back and redirected the ball toward the net. Now that Cormac had removed Ryan from his path, he had a clear lane toward the goal. In a last ditch effort to stop the Camp Craig star, Ryan swiped at the ball. He misjudged the space and struck Cormac right on the ankle bone.

It hurt Cormac for a second and as he planted his foot to shoot, he called to Ryan, "Fuck off!" Cormac swung through the ball and it went straight down the middle of the goal. It was dead center, but too high for the young goalie to reach. If there was a counselor rather than a camper in the goal, the shot would've been parried away without a problem, but the ball went in.

Feeling the competitive rage building in him, Cormac stood face to face with Ryan, "Fuck off!" he repeated.

Ryan shoved Cormac out of his face with two hands, as Cormac was surrounded with hugs from his team.

The game ended 2-1 in Camp Craig's favor. The crowd cheered and everyone headed back to the amphitheater for the closing words. The ceremony was the same as the week before. And just like the end of the last Camp Cup, Camp Adventure stood up and filed out of the amphitheater.

Still covered in sweat and grass, Ryan grabbed Hermione's hand as he walked by, "I'll see you tonight."

Not knowing what to say, she nodded.

That session of camp came to an end. The campers and counselors exchanged hugs and they were sent on their way back to the waiting parents. Now that they were relieved of campers, the counselors had the rest of the afternoon to spend their time the way they desired. The grounds were still wet and it was humid. It was also approaching "hot", but mostly there was that feeling of post-rain in the air.

Some people headed to the camp store to use the equipment in there, and Eric convinced a majority of people to head to the lake, but Hermione was among the group that opted to take a shower and get the mugginess off them. As a group, they crossed Lower Bridge. Hermione broke off when it was her turn to head to her cabin. She showered and laid on her bed in a towel for a few minutes, before she put on some underwear and went back to her book. She was almost halfway through it.

Hermione was interrupted from her book when her door opened. It was Naomi. Wayne was right behind her. Still half-naked, Hermione did her best to cover herself. Once Naomi saw what Hermione was wearing, she stopped in her tracks and pushed Wayne back outside while she proceeded to enter. Hermione got dressed, and then Naomi and Wayne brought Hermione to dinner with them.

At dinner, it was apparent that Gary and Nicky, as well as a few others had just gotten back from dropping liquor off at the storage barns. The prospect of having another night at the storage barn really excited Hermione. She had such a great time the week before with Ryan that she was hopeful it would be just as fun. And now that they had kissed, who knew what would happen. Hermione spent the meal whispering the latest Ryan updates to Naomi.

"How could you not tell me this?!" Naomi whispered with an exasperated tone.

"I don't know. It never came up," Hermione told her after sharing the fact that they had shared a kiss.

"We've had plenty of time together! Arts and Crafts, Cooking, and every single meal!" again she hushed her disapproval of being left in the dark.

"I didn't want to jinx anything!" Hermione confessed to her.

"What do you mean?" Naomi questioned.

"Well," Hermione surveyed who was sitting around her. The coast was clear, "You know how things were going with a certain someone." She nudged her head in Cormac's direction.

Naomi nodded.

"Well, I thought that was going well, but then it didn't," Hermione continued.

"Well, Ryan seems great," Naomi finished.

They kept the topic going until the meal was over.

After the meal ended, Naomi and Wayne told Hermione that they would get dressed and then they would meet Hermione in her cabin in an hour or so. Hermione did the math in her head, and it didn't require an hour of time for them to get dressed, even if Naomi wanted to put on make-up and do her hair. She knew that they wanted to have some along time, and Hermione also knew that they had sex, but it was easier for her to pretend that that didn't exist.

Hermione got to her cabin and threw on a pair of pants that fell just above her ankle and a shirt that was loose fitting that fell off one shoulder artistically. Since she had so much time left over to wait for Naomi and Wayne, Hermione stepped into her bathroom and applied a light layer of makeup, but spent most of her time trying to tame her hair. Once her hair was just to her liking, Hermione started feeling antsy. She tried to be patient and wait for her friends, but she started pacing around her cabin. She would peek out the window, down the path that led up to her cabin, but when she didn't see her friends she even felt antsier. She even opened the door to look outside a few times.

Almost to the exact second, an hour later, Naomi and Wayne stepped onto the path and walked into Hermione's cabin. They could sense Hermione's jitters and had to ask what was causing it.

"I don't know. I'm just excited for tonight. I think it's going to be fun," she said.

"I think we know what that means!" Naomi said giving a knowing look at Wayne.

"Ugh, I hope not," Wayne said inspecting one of the bouquets of flowers that Hermione had lying around her room.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione and Naomi said to him.

"I'm assuming you're talking about Ryan Craig?" both the girls nodded to answer his question.

Wayne tried to think of his words carefully, "I don't know how I feel about him."

"What do you mean?! You guys were getting along last week," Naomi reminded him.

"Yeah, I wasn't going to be an asshole to him. We'd just won the Camp Cup and he was with Hermione, and I didn't want to put him down in front of her," he paused and looked at Hermione, "I hope that's ok."

"So you only tolerated him because of me?" Hermione asked.

Wayne nodded.

"Aw, thanks, Wayne," Hermione always knew that Wayne was a good guy.

"Well what did he do to be an asshole?" Naomi brought the conversation back on track.

"I don't know. I don't like the way he gets competitive," Wayne started.

Hermione interrupted, "But you and Cormac get along!" This seemed like a classic case of Camp Craig being anti-Camp Adventure.

"No, they're very different," Wayne said. No one could argue that Cormac and Ryan were different, but using the words "very different" may be stretching it.

"I don't know. Cormac seemed to be getting too competitive in the football match. Did you see the way he was yelling at poor Dayton?" Hermione pointed out.

"You haven't seen Ryan play some other sports. He does the same thing in basketball and volleyball, but the kids that he yells at don't have the same relationship as Cormac and Dayton. Ryan almost made one of his campers cry during the basketball game. Cormac yelled at Dayton in the heat of the moment, because he wants Dayton to be better and he knows that Dayton can handle Cormac's criticism, because Dayton looks at Cormac as an older brother." Wayne started, "Yes, Cormac has a short temper when he's playing, but he and Dayton are fine now."

"How come I only see when Cormac is at fault?" Hermione didn't know why she was standing up for Ryan, but now she was on a roll.

"What do you mean?" Wayne asked.

"He didn't need to tell Ryan to 'Fuck off,'" Hermione stated.

"Yeah, but you didn't hear what Ryan said after he scored his goal last week or today," Wayne filled them in.

"Well, what did he say?" Naomi asked when no one spoke.

"Eh it doesn't matter," Wayne said, "Just know that he isn't as perfect as you think."

"Well, all I can say is that he respects me and treats me like a young lady should be treated," Hermione said thinking about all the nice things Ryan had done, "He walked me back to the cabin last week – he didn't need to do that. He's gotten me flowers every day this week – he didn't need to do that. And he's never pushed himself on me – which is just basic respect. I think you are wrong about this one, Wayne."

"Well, you've been wrong about people before. You were never a real fan of Cormac's either, but you guys are decent friends now," Naomi said lessening the tension.

"Yeah, I've been wrong before," the next part he said under his breath, "but not normally."

Trying to keep the peace, Naomi switched the subject and maneuvered the conversation away from the topic of Cormac vs. Ryan for the remainder of their time in Hermione's cabin.

As they were leaving Hermione's cabin, and snuck along the wood line toward Lower Bridge and toward the amphitheater, Hermione's brain took her back to the conversation she was just having with Wayne. She wasn't looking to justify Ryan's personality or his action, because she had never seen him act in the ways that Wayne was describing, but because she didn't want to skew her opinion of him. Instead, she moved to compare Cormac's gentlemanly gestures. Cormac had also walked Hermione back to her cabin, on multiple occasions. He had elected to stay behind to lead Hermione to the storage barn on their first night. He elected to help carry her luggage to her cabin at the beginning of the summer. Numerous times he had worked to keep Hermione from stumbling to the ground. He had broken into the Infirmary for her. He had given her bandages and ice packs for her multiple bumps and bruises. He had even spent a night with her stroking her head as she fell asleep.

Her list could've gone on, but she was just approaching the steps to the amphitheater. At the moment, Hermione was feeling very pro-Cormac. How could she forget how great he was to her? She needed to see how he really felt.

Cormac was standing among a group of people that were talking about flipcup. They were beginning to strategize the best lineup to finally outright beat Camp Adventure. Unfortunately, no matter how much scheming they did, the game only came down to a little bit of skill and a lot of luck.

Hermione went to stand right next to him and bumped him with her hip on purpose.

Cormac turned to look in her direction and was surprised to see that she was the culprit.

"Hey?" he said. It sounded more like a question.

"Hi there," Hermione said standing with her hands behind her back. She shifted on her toes for a second.

Cormac didn't think he had ever seen Hermione look cuter.

His thoughts were lost on her for a moment and involuntarily he just responded, "Hey."

Hermione chuckled, "We already did that."

"Right," Cormac said with a smile inching across his face.

They looked into each other's eyes and they both were thinking the same thing. _Why did we stop doing this?_

"Cormac," Gary's voice sounded over everything.

Cormac's head popped up in the Head Counselor's direction and Gary's finger motioned Cormac to come to his side. Gary had something stern to say to Cormac, but Hermione couldn't hear what Cormac was being told. Hermione knew that it was serious based on Gary's hand gestures. Gary crossed his hands in front of him and then separated them as if he was referring to have no tolerance for something.

Cormac nodded when Gary seemed to be done with him and he made his way back to Hermione.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked with a playfulness in her tone.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Cormac said waving her question aside, "just don't leave my side tonight." He raised his eyebrows in her direction and she smiled.

The group started to make their way to the vehicles. This time Hermione had the privilege of standing in the back of the truck with Cormac.

As they reached the strip of the traffic circle that housed the camp cars, Cormac turned to Hermione, "I'm assuming you're going to ride with Nicky?"

"No, I think I'll ride with you," Hermione said turning to the truck.

Cormac normally stood in the back of the truck, even if there was space in the cab.

"No, I don't think so. You're a clumsy disaster waiting to happen," Cormac said trying to lead her to the front seat of the golf cart.

By now, people were starting to take seats in the vehicles.

"You'd better hurry and help me up or your spot will be gone," Hermione said holding out a hand motioning that she needed assistance.

"Ok. I warned you," Cormac said moving to the side of the truck bed. Cormac assisted her by holding out a hand for Hermione to use to leverage herself into the truck. With one foot, she stepped up high on the truck tire and hoisted herself up with Cormac's hand and a firm push on her bottom to get up. Once she was safely where she needed to be, Cormac jumped and pulled himself to join her. The pair of them stood with their palms flat on the roof of the truck cab and waited for the journey down the windy road.

"So what's been going on?" Cormac asked, "I've missed you most of this week."

Hermione did her best to fill Cormac in on what had been happening. Of course, she omitted the parts that involved Ryan, because she didn't want to put Cormac off, since she was enjoying her time. Secretly, the tidbits about Ryan Craig were what Cormac wanted to hear, but he was fine listening to everything else too.

That topic was able to span the length of the ride. By the time the cars were in park almost everyone was out of the vehicles. The people sitting with their feet dangling off the edge of the cab had already circled to the front of the truck. The people sitting in the middle of the cab had disembarked and everyone that had crammed in the truck cab was exiting. That left Cormac and Hermione.

"Hold on," Cormac said as he hopped down with no problem.

"You don't think I can jump down on my own?" Hermione felt that he was being too macho.

"With those little ankles? No way," Cormac said pointing at her lower legs.

Hermione made an aggravate noise.

"I'm kidding," he said protecting himself, "Just humor me."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but slowly approached the edge of the truck bed.

Cormac reached up with his arms waiting for her. Thankfully, no one was around to see, because this seemed to be humiliating. She leaned forward and Cormac grabbed her under her shoulders and delicately helped her to the ground. It felt nice to feel so safe. The whole way down she played the scenario of her jumping down in her head, and she only saw it unfold with her falling, so she was thankful that Cormac assisted.

He dropped her on both feet inches from him. There was barely any distance between her nose and his chin. Once Hermione became aware of their closeness, she made to step back and create a little more space, but she was stopped.

Cormac's right arm was stronger than the momentum that Hermione had tried to create to walk backwards.

"Cormac?" Hermione was confused and she went to look up into his face. She couldn't see her own face, but she was sure that she had on a puzzled expression.

For a second, she was interested to see that Cormac's face also had a quizzical look. Hermione sensed that the cogs in his brain were spinning at a thousand revolutions a second. As she looked up into his eyes, she saw something flicker in the back of his irises.

And an instant later he kissed her.

**A/N: I've been finding it difficult to carve out time to write, and I hope that doesn't turn you off of this story! I'm going to do my best to stay on top of my writing.**

**jrb2009**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Sorry for the super extended cliffhanger! But I'm back!**

**Chapter 24**

"Sorry about that. I've been meaning to do that for a while, but I haven't found the opportunity," Cormac said once he had pulled his lips away from Hermione.

The kiss could've lasted a second, a minute, or three nights. Each guess was as good as the next to Hermione.

Shock was the first emotion that struck Hermione when she found that her brain could attach to one thought at a time again.

"It's fine," she said in an airy tone. Her brain was split at sixty-forty. Sixty percent of her brain was trying to understand what that kiss just meant. The other forty percent was trying to figure out what was going to happen with the rest of the night. Cormac vs. Ryan. Testosterone. Bad blood. Two seemingly nice guys. The forty percent was starting to dominate her thoughts so she wiped both ideas out of her head, "we should get in there."

"Right," Cormac McLaggen didn't get embarrassed, but he was beginning to feel disconcerted.

Hermione realized they couldn't have been that long, because Gary and Junior were still giving each other shit for the consecutive Camp Cup wins.

"Maybe next week you guys will be able to walk away with this," Gary again brandished the Camp Cup. The Camp Craigers cheered and the Camp Adventure-ites booed.

"Do you need another beer to drink from your chalice, oh great Champion?" Junior said turning and reaching into a cooler.

"No, this should do!" Gary said pulling out a bottle of vodka from behind his back with his other hand.

There were several different reactions. Some people seemed excited at the sight of the clear liquor, but others seemed repulsed by it. The only interaction Hermione had ever had with vodka was her night in Gary's cabin.

"That's bold," the lady Head Counselor of Camp Adventure stated.

"But not every day is my birthday," Gary said.

People got even more excited. Gary had kept the secret all day long and finally had a big reveal. Junior shook his hand and most of the Camp Craigers pretended to be mad with Gary for keeping his birthday a secret.

"Shots for everyone!" Junior said as he turned around to point at a few of his counselors. Three Camp Adventure counselors worked to pour a little bit of liquor from the coolers in disposable cups for everyone. It was a quick task. In no time, red cups were filled with various liquors from the different bottles that had been purchased for the evening together.

Gary, who was the center of attention, poured a healthy amount of vodka into the Camp Cup trophy and people continued egging him on to pour even more. Junior quieted everyone down and held up his cup.

"To Gary Smalling. The birthday boy. A thorn in Camp Adventure's side. A good man. And a great friend."

"Gary!" everyone said and tipped back their cups. A lot of people gasped after the hard bite of the liquor and a few people even started to cough. Hermione had been given something completely different to the vodka that she had experienced in Gary's cabin and she liked the taste a little more, but the burn was worse.

Gary finished his amount of vodka with a crisp, "Ahhhh" and thanked everyone and encouraged people to grab a drink.

Hermione was happy to head to the cooler and grab a fruity one of her drinks before he throat had a hole burned in it. She twisted the top off and immediately put it to her lips. The cooler relief was delicious and instant. Now that she could breathe comfortably, she went to go wish Gary a happy birthday.

Gary was surrounded by a few people, Cormac was among them.

"Hey, Gary, happy birthday. I had no idea!" Hermione said coming behind him.

Gary turned and seemed pleased to see Hermione. He opened his arms for a hug and Hermione complied.

"I freaking love this girl. How can you not love, Hermione," Gary said still holding her by the arm that was holding the Camp Cup and pointing to her with the hand that was still holding the vodka. He seemed to remember that he had the vodka in his hand, "Everyone put your cups here." He motioned to the space in front of him.

Everyone still had their disposable red cups in their hand and did as they were told. Gary took the top off the vodka bottle with his teeth and poured a little for everyone.

"To Hermione Granger." Gary said. There wasn't a real need for it, but apparently Gary was in the mood to celebrate.

Everyone clinked their cups together and laughed. Hermione was feeling shy, but she caught Cormac's eye. As if they were having their own toast, Cormac locked his eyes on hers and his stare lit her chest on fire before she'd even had her drink.

"To Hermione." Cormac said as he put his head back and drank.

Hermione followed and the vodka was a familiar taste, but not a great flavor. Maybe it was an acquired taste?

"I'm going to get a beer," Cormac said to the group at large, but he was looking at Hermione, "Does anyone want anything?"

Immediately, orders and requests were sent Cormac's way. He only wanted an excuse to walk with Hermione to get a drink, but she shrugged and held up her drink so that he could see. Knowing that his attempt to walk with Hermione had failed, he tipped his head back and swore as he started working to remember everything that everyone wanted.

Cormac slunk out of the group before he threw Hermione a smile and a wink. Hermione tried to mimic his actions, but she could tell that she was nowhere near as good at winking as Cormac.

The moment Cormac was ten meters from Hermione a new body replaced him. It was Ryan's. Behind Ryan was another Camp Adventure counselor. One that Hermione had to admit she didn't know, but in her defense she didn't really know that many of the Camp Adventure counselors.

"Happy birthday, Gar," Ryan said clapping the Head Counselor on the arm.

Hermione was pretty certain that Gary couldn't stand Ryan on most days, but perhaps in good spirits because of his birthday and the spirits in his stomach, Gary seemed to be receptive to Ryan's good wishes.

"Thanks, Craig," Gary said. Next, he held out his bottle of vodka, "Drink?"

"Sure why not?" Ryan said allowing Gary to pour some vodka into one of the two red cups in his hands.

"Gary," the boy behind Cormac said, "Brenden Fonte. Happy birthday." Brenden reached out with his left hand to shake hands with Gary. Hermione saw that Brenden's right arm was in a cast. Gary accepted the offhand handshake and then offered him some vodka.

The three of them had their drink and Gary turned his attention back to some other people that arrived to wish him a happy birthday.

"The beautiful, Hermione Granger," Ryan turned to create a smaller intimate group with him, her and his friend.

"Ryan Craig," Hermione said smiling in his direction.

"Do you know, Brenden?" Cormac said. Brenden reintroduced himself again.

"Nice to meet you," Hermione said. She noticed that Brenden was handsome too. How were all the counselors at both camps so good-looking?

Hermione was wrapped into a conversation that she enjoyed about university. Apparently Ryan and Brenden were friends together from the area and were heading to the same uni in the fall. Hermione was always interested in academic conversations and was enjoying the topic.

She was having a lot of fun listening to the pair of them talk about their prospective classes and extracurricular activities. She was really enjoying the vibe that she was receiving from both the boys. They were funny, appeared to be smart, and had a witty banter between the two of them. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at almost anything they said.

Hermione felt like something was missing. She scanned the area briefly and found what/who she was looking for. Cormac was under one of the string lights, resting an arm against one of the supporting ladders. He seemed to be half involved in a conversation with a small group. Hermione smiled at him when they made eye contact. He forced a smile back.

Hermione waved for him to join her while Ryan and Brenden pretended to wrestle each other over a disagreement.

Again, Cormac faked a smile on his face, but he shook his head side-to-side.

Hermione couldn't understand why he wouldn't want to join them. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Everyone was celebrating Gary's birthday. And Ryan and Brenden seemed like a lot of fun.

She tried to wave Cormac over to where she was standing and again Cormac shook his head. He mouthed to her, "In a bit."

That was good enough for Hermione and she went back to the conversation with the duo in front of her. Not long after resuming her conversation with the boys, it was announced that it was time for drinking games. Boys retrieved long tables from the barns and the games began. It appeared that Camp Craig's time used to strategize worked out to their benefit, because they won the first game of flipcup, but even though they had won the first battle the war was won by Camp Adventure who retained their crown. Hermione was standing across from Ryan and Brenden and between the second and third games, they had finished the drinks in their cups.

"Brenden, go grab us some more drinks," Ryan said shaking his cup to show that it was empty. Next, he looked across the table and saw that Hermione's bottle was empty, "Do you need another one?"

He had to repeat himself to make Hermione aware that he was talking to her.

"Me? Um, sure I could use another drink," she put her head back down and filled a little bit of beer in the cup that she was supposed to be flipping.

Brenden left with two empty red cups and returned with three full cups. He placed down two of them in between he and Cormac, and reached across the table and placed one in front of Hermione.

Hermione said, "Thank you," but she looked at the cup warily.

"What is that face for?" Ryan asked taking notice.

"I didn't do so well with this last time," she said remembering her back pain.

"Why you didn't like it?" Brenden asked taking the cup to his lips.

"No, it tasted fine, but I had some weird reaction to it," she didn't want to seem like a crazy person and confess her mysterious back pain.

"Weird reaction? Did you get drunk for the first time?" Brenden said with a laugh to himself.

"No, nevermind," Hermione said taking a small sip from the cup. It tasted so good.

"And don't worry, we didn't make this batch very strong," Brenden said giving Ryan a mischievous look.

Ryan smiled back at him.

Hermione didn't want to question their look but said, "So you guys are responsible for this every week?"

"It's an old Camp Adventure family secret that has been passed down. No one is solely responsible for mixing the drink, but this particular batch is ours," Ryan said tiping his glass back.

Excited noises were coming from the beginning of the flipcup lines, and the third game started. Camp Adventure had a fiery start. They motored at the beginning with few hiccups. The lead reached Cormac and he tossed his cup over on the first try and Brenden follow suit to his friend. They tapped their red cups together and took a drink of their red concoction. Shortly after they removed their cups from their lips, Hermione had her cup land inverted on her first try. The pair of boys acknowledged Hermione's accomplishment and extended their cups in her direction. Hermione reciprocated and they all took a drink.

Camp Adventure ultimately won, and people grew tired of that game. Two more tables were dragged out of the storage barns and more games were played. Two tables were used for beer pong again, which was a fan favorite. The other two that were brought out were for new games that Hermione didn't understand. One of the games required throwing table tennis balls at resting beer cans on the other end of the table. Hermione thought the rules seemed simple enough, but the people that were playing were running too much and shouting more than Hermione was really interested in.

The other game was being orchestrated by Ryan and Craig.

"Someone get as many cups and beer as you can."

One person showed up at the table with a very tall stack of red cups.

"Make a big pile of cups around the middle," Brenden said as he came back with a beer staff six high. He had one hand on the bottom can and on the top can and was pinching them from either end. Ryan and he started distributing small tastes of beer in each of the cups except for two.

"Ok, here are the rules of the game," Ryan began and he started to explain.

This game was painfully confusing to understand. Hermione didn't know if it was from the alcohol or if the rules were just too complicated, but she, the brightest witch of her age, could hardly wrap her head around it. She really tried to focus in after she took one more long sit of her cup. She looked in the cup and there was nothing left. Had she spilt? Where had it all gone?

Not thinking to stay and understand the rules a little better, Hermione went at a trot to refill her cup at the sports cooler. As she reached out to the spigot, her hand was intercepted. It was a familiar hand.

"Hey," Cormac said releasing Hermione.

"Now you want to talk to me?" Hermione was playfully referring to Cormac's earlier attempt to ignore her attempt to beckon him to her side.

"Come on, let's go get you a water or something from one of the coolers. How about one of your purple drinks?" Cormac said trying to lead her away from the sports jug.

"No it's fine, Cormac," Hermione felt like he was trying to teach her like a baby, "I feel fine."

"I know," he didn't want to be pushy, ultimately he was trying to look out for her, "But you remember what happened last time."

"It'll be different. Brenden and Ryan said that they didn't make it as strong," Hermione told him.

Cormac let out a tiny frustrated sigh. He was trying to think of something else to say, but he came up blank.

Hermione took his moment of indecision and started to fill her cup. Cormac just watched with slightly defeated eyes. Once the cup was filled to the brim, Hermione stopped the flow.

"Oops," she said. Slowly, she brought the cup to her lips and sucked off the top layer of the drink so that she could walk at a comfortable pace without spilling. Cormac seemed to be disappointed, but forced a smiled at her.

"Here," Hermione took Cormac by the wrist, "Come play."

She led the pair of them to the folding table where Brenden and Ryan were just finishing the explanation of the game.

"Are we ready?" Ryan said to the group at large, and finally noticing that Hermione was back.

"We were worried you weren't coming back," Brenden said next to his friend.

"You stand here," Ryan said pointing to the spot between him and Brenden.

Hermione obeyed, but spoke, "Someone needs to explain the rules to Cormac."

"Do you know how to play Slapcup, McLaggen?" Brenden said with an impish smile on his face.

Something flipped on in Cormac's face, "Hermione, switch spots with me."

Cormac was on the opposite side of Ryan.

"It's fine, Cormac," Hermione said, "Let's just play."

"You heard the girl," Ryan said looking at Cormac.

Hermione still didn't understand the rules to the game, but she wasn't responsible for starting. She hoped that she would pick up the rules while they played. Hermione saw that people were bouncing table tennis balls off the table and attempting to get them to land in an empty cup. The game seemed innocent enough, but what was the beer for?

Apparently there was some sort of chase involved with the two people bouncing the balls. There were about ten people spaced around the table and while the game started with the balls separated by five people, now the second ball was one person behind.

Brenden was currently working on the lead ball and bounced it in on his first try and passed the ball and cup to Hermione. Hermione did as everyone else had and removed the ball and attempted to find the touch that allowed her to bounce the ball in the cup, but she missed several times in a row. Hermione hadn't seen, but Brenden had received the second cup and again bounced it in on his first try. He quickly taught Hermione why the game was called "Slapcup". He swatted Hermione's cup out before she was able to bounce her ball in the cup.

Her immediate response was, "What the hell?!"

Brenden looked at her with innocent eyes, "Drink!"

"What?" she asked.

Everyone around the table that understood the rules pointed to the cups in the middle. Hermione took one and started drinking. Ryan was standing and watching with laughter. Brenden had passed the ball and cup to him and he was responsible for bouncing immediately, but he was enjoying watching.

Hermione drank the beer and then looked around, "Now what?"

Brenden was laughing so hard, he barely got the instructions out, "Now bounce the ball into the cup."

"Oh," Hermione said. She went back to trying to bounce the ball in the cup, but again was having difficulty.

Now that he had his fill of watching, Ryan bounced the ball off the table and in the cup on his first try. Rather than passing the cup on to Cormac, he moved the ball and cup backwards to Brenden.

"Wait, no," Hermione said trying to grab the cup from the boys, "It's supposed to go to Cormac."

"Not if I bounce it in on my first try," Ryan explained, "I get to pick where I want to move it. And you better hurry up."

Hermione put her head back down and tried to bounce the ball in the cup but kept hitting the side of the cup. Brenden bounced it in on his first try and swatted Hermione's cup away again.

Her first instinct was to chase the cup that had been removed from her, but everyone shouted for her to drink and get a new cup.

That pattern lasted three more times, with the boys bullying Hermione, but eventually Ryan missed his first shot and was forced to move the cup and ball to Cormac on his left.

Cormac looked to his right and Hermione was having a hard time getting her fourth taste of beer down. Her stomach was feeling full of carbonation. Cormac bounce the ball off the table and into the cup on his first try. Everyone shouted for him to elect to move the ball back to Brenden, because watching Hermione was such a delight, but he just passed the cup to his left. He wanted to keep the attention as far away from Hermione as possible.

Several other people were ambushed and had cups swatted away from under their nose, but no one got it as bad as Hermione. Being stuck between Brenden and Ryan was not a wise place to stand. She got sucked into a drinking vortex two more times. The third time she was stuck between them, she was only saved when Cormac took her cup from her because he couldn't handle watching her struggle to drink anymore beer. He took the cup from her, drank it, threw it on the ground, picked up another cup from the center and bounced the ball in the cup he had finished to move it down the line.

"Come on, McLaggen, that isn't part of the rules," Brenden said across the table to Cormac.

"Yeah, that's no fun," Ryan said looking back at his buddy.

"Seeing Hermione get sick isn't my idea of fun," Cormac said looking over in Hermione's direction. She appeared to be fine, but her face just looked like a kid's that had eaten too much candy.

"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself. She doesn't need you to be her white knight," Brenden said to Cormac. He put his arm around Hermione, "Isn't that right, Sweetie."

Hermione was holding her belly, but nodded.

Cormac wanted to say, "Don't you fucking touch her." He went to point a finger at Brenden and only got out the first two words in his sentence.

Ryan had grabbed his wrist and threw it down, "Don't you want?" he turned and went nose to nose with Cormac. The game had stopped.

"Cormac!" Nicky shouted from where she was near the beer pong tables, "Come here."

It was the only thing that any of the thirty-six counselors heard. Cormac circled the table and headed in Nicky's direction.

"Let's finish," Ryan said turning back to the game. There were only a handful of cups left on the table to get slapped away as the game was coming to an end. Once again, Brenden slapped Hermione's cup away and she was forced to pick up a cup from the middle of the table. Ryan made his cup on the first bounce and went to slide the cup and ball back to Brenden, but he made eye contact with his friend who gave him a quick shake of the head. Instead, Ryan moved the cup to his left.

That game ended and everyone raved about how much fun it had been. Hermione was still feeling full, but also seemed to be enjoying herself. People pleaded to play another round, but Brenden and Ryan excused themselves and invited Hermione to join them.

Hermione followed behind them as she wished she could create more room in her full stomach.

"One more drink?" Brenden said turning back to Hermione. She shook her head no, "Ok."

Brenden and Ryan finished the drinks they had, and then poured full cups, before they touched cups and finished them in one try. They let out satisfied sounds and filled their cups halfway.

Hermione couldn't be certain, but it looked like they gave each other some sort of secret look.

"Hermione, have you ever really seen the stars?" Ryan said to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, kind of teetering to the side.

"I think it would just be better if we showed you," Brenden said reaching out for Hermione's hand. She didn't know why, but she took it. Ryan quickly swiveled his head side to side to see if they were attracting any attention to themselves, but from his quick glance everyone seemed to be too interested in drinking games.

Ryan placed a hand on Hermione's lower back as he and Brenden led her down a path into the woods.

Cormac was having a hard time taking his lashings from Gary. The Head Counselors was very drunk and the words to his sentences seemed to be slurred as one. Cormac had tried to ignore him, and Gary got a little physical with him.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," Gary said grabbing Cormac by the face and forcing him to look at him.

Quickly, Cormac made an annoyed look at Nicky. It was a look that said, "Seriously?"

"Ok, Gary, hurry it up," Nicky said trying to be fair.

"I told you, no Hermione when Ryan is around," Gary reminded Cormac.

"I know," Cormac said.

"No fighting," Gary said holding up one finger in Cormac's face.

"I know."

"No more," Gary said as his eyes seemed to roll to the back of his head, before they came back.

"Ok," Cormac said stepping away from his 'scolding', Gary wouldn't remember a second of their interaction.

Cormac was going to steer clear of the table with the drinking games, but he did take a look to see how Hermione was doing. But she wasn't where he expected her to be. From where he was standing, Cormac spun around and surveyed every inch that was lit by the stringed lights. He didn't see Hermione anywhere. And he couldn't find Ryan or Brenden for that matter.

Yes the clearing was large enough to enjoy some fun times, but there wasn't any space for someone to hide if they were being searched for. Cormac jogged at a pace that wouldn't alarm anyone toward the Camp Craig storage barn. No one was in there. He ran across the clearing to the Camp Adventure storage barn, and it wasn't empty but it wasn't Hermione or the boys that she was looking for.

Cormac now ran to the table that was playing the bouncing game.

"Did anyone see where Hermione went?" he did his best to keep his voice calm and level.

"Yeah, they went that way," one girl said pointing in the direction of the Jungle Juice cooler.

Cormac didn't thank the girl. Instead he just headed over to the spigot. There was a couple from Camp Adventure at the cooler.

"Did you see where Ryan Craig just went?"

**A/N: Sorry again for the delay! Life gets crazy sometimes. But what could possibly happen next?!**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hi everyone, **

**Ryaaaaann guessed right!**

**Chapter 25**

Hermione didn't think that she and the boys were walking for very long. Granted she couldn't hear the music coming from the speakers anymore, but they couldn't be more than two or three minutes walking into the tree line. A little bit of moonlight was making its way through the treetops and Hermione was starting to lose her feeling of fullness of beer, but was also beginning to feel lightheaded and sleepy.

"Come on, Hermione. Down this way," Brendon said reaching up with his hand that wasn't in a cast to assist her step.

Ryan came behind her and made sure she didn't wall backwards from a loss of balance.

"How much farther?" Hermione asked with a very faint voice.

"I don't think much father," Brenden said turning around with a smirk at Ryan.

"I think I need some water," Hermione said feeling a dryness in her mouth.

"We didn't bring any water with us," Ryan confessed to her, "I have one more beer." Ryan reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bottle of beer that hadn't been opened.

"No, I don't think I need any more alcohol," Hermione told him, 'I think I just need water."

"Well, we can get you a water when we get back," Brenden said. Hermione was no longer having fun with the boys.

"Fine," was all she said. Her annoyance was only in the foreground for a moment, before she started to feel the effects of the alcohol slow her brain down significantly again.

"And besides, I think we've gone far enough, Hermione," Ryan said from behind her. He reached out and took her wrist and spun her around.

He clutched her face between his hands and kissed her once gently. Hermione didn't reject him, so he went back down to kiss her again. Hermione didn't know why she continued to let him kiss her, but she didn't stop him and she even did her best to kiss him back. Even though she wasn't exactly having the best time, she still thought Ryan was cute and he was funny, and he was thoughtful.

Hermione jumped when she felt a pair of hands placed on either side of her hips.

"It's ok," Ryan said between their kisses.

Hermione didn't know what to say, but she continued to allow Ryan to kiss her on the lips while Brenden came behind her and started trailing his lips on her exposed shoulder as he gripped on the skin by her sides.

Normally, Hermione's mind would've started racing and she obviously would've called all these actions to a halt, but her brain was feeling so fuzzy and she seemed to be acting out of her own body.

Cormac was doing his best to hurry though the woods. He was moving in the direction of where he had been pointed to. Cormac was trying to tilt his head in every direction while he was running. He wanted to see something that seemed out of the ordinary or hear a hint of something that would alert him to where Hermione had gone off to. He was looking to his left and thought he heard something to his right. He changed his direction before he looked where he was going. When he whipped his head around, he had to retract his face away as a sting came across his cheek. A stray limb caught him just under the eye and split his skin.

Hermione was still kissing Ryan, but both boys were now beginning to get their hands on her teenage body. Ryan had moved his hands up to Hermione's chest and had moved under her different layers to get to her soft skin. Brenden was still behind her, and he had his lips pressed against her neck. He too had his hands on Hermione's body. To start, he had left his hands near Hermione's waist, but then he moved them to squeeze on Hermione's thighs, before he moved them over her pants and between her legs.

Hermione had tried to fight his hands off of her twice, before he whispered in her ear.

"It's ok," was all the pushing that Brenden needed to say, before Hermione allowed his actions to continue.

Hermione's drunk brain thought that nothing too extreme was happening and she could write off being disappointed in herself because she was drunk, but then things changed.

Brenden moved one hand to the button on Hermione's pants and worked it free without Hermione even realizing. When he tried to force his hand where Hermione didn't want it to go, she squeezed her legs together and used both her hands to grab his wrist.

She shook her head side-to-side and made a dissenting sound through her lips. Brenden had heard her, but ignored her request. He tried to force his way between her legs again.

Hermione pushed Brenden away from her and then Ryan.

"Stop," Hermione said firmly. She may have even stomped her foot down. She had just enough fight left in her to make one stand. Now the alcohol in her blood became too strong for the normal bookworm's will power.

Slowly, as if approaching a startled animal, both boys lifted their hands up apologetically.

"Hermione, we're sorry, but come on you're being a buzzkill," Ryan said. He reached up to take her by the wrist. Once he had a hold of her, she tried to wrest her arm from his grip.

Her instinct was to try to snatch it away again when his grip held her firmly. When she tried to escape his grip, Ryan squeezed tighter.

"Ow!" Hermione said bringing her other hand to his wrist. She tried to use both her hands against his one.

He continued to hold her, and tried to speak softly, "Hermione, it's fine." Just relax."

She ignored his words, "Ryan, you're hurting me." She continued to fight his hands, which only led him to tighten his grip harder.

Hermione couldn't hold back a pain filled wince. It took Ryan a few seconds to register what he was doing and he released her. He looked down at his hand surprised to see it there.

Hermione thought that was her moment to return back to the counselor party. She turned her back on the boys and wasn't two steps away before she was halted again. Brenden had reached out and grabbed Hermione by the side of her shirt. He pulled harder than he was aware, and it caused Hermione to stumble back into his arms.

"Come on, Hermione. Don't be a prude," he whispered huskily in her ear.

Hermione didn't say anything. She just massaged the side of her neck, where her shirt had dug into her when Brenden pulled on her shirt.

When he didn't get a response, Brenden looked for back up. "Right, Ryan?"

Ryan was still looking at his hand, but was snapped to the present by his friend's words.

"Yeah, right," Ryan said walking back to Hermione, "Besides, I thought you liked me."

Now, Hermione was out of fight. She thought that Ryan had a point, and the thought had crossed her mind before. Brenden was also right, in a sense. She didn't want to be a buzzkill or a prude.

So she just stood there while the boys went back to test the waters and see what they could get away with, before they pushed Hermione too far.

Cormac was certain he had lost himself in the woods. He was beginning to tire from running around. He wasn't going to give up looking for Hermione, but he was experiencing a stitch in his side. He tried to use his time most efficiently by resting, but also listening hard. He felt a sensation rising in his chest and lost focus from his task for a moment. He let a bubble of carbonation escape from his chest and it tasted like beer. He had been drinking to celebrate Gary's birthday, but hadn't nearly had as much as he normally would at one of the counselor parties.

He had all of his wits about him. Yes, he wouldn't consider himself completely sober, but he was also using all of his focus on finding Hermione. With his eyes clenched tight trying to filter out the night, he did his best to focus his ears all around him. And then he heard her.

Hermione was back in the situation where both the boys were kissing her. Ryan had returned his hands to her chest, and Brenden had worked her jeans open again and had his hand massaging her in her most intimate spot. She wanted to tell them to stop, but for some reason, the thought of being a "buzzkill" or "prude" was worse. She couldn't help but let some pleasurable moans escape her lips, and that pushed the boys further. Both of them were whispering dirty things in her ears, and her head was spinning.

Hermione arched her back one time in response to one of Brenden's touches. She almost whined when he pulled his hand from between her legs, but she thought her noise was soft enough for only her. He removed his hands and placed it on of hers. Delicately, he guided her hand where he wanted it.

"Go and grab our cocks," he whispered to her.

She didn't know why she obeyed, but with each of her hands she found the boys groins. She knew she was in the right place when her fingers traced over their bulges. Hermione delicately traced over their jeans with her fingertips, but the boys were looking for more. They began to thrust their hips into her hands aggressively, but she didn't have a response other than changing from using her fingertips to her palms.

Hermione kept at this while the boys continued kissing her where they stood. But soon Brenden and Ryan gave each other a drunken look.

"Come on, Hermione, a little more," Ryan said and he placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to push her onto her knees.

Hermione wanted to say no again, but the words didn't come to her lips this time.

Once the Brenden and Ryan had her where they wanted her, the boys moved their hands to the zippers of their pants.

Hermione was aware of what was happening and finally she was able to say what she wanted. Still from her knees, she looked up at them and said, "No, I don't want to."

Brenden had his hands on his waistband about to thrust his jeans down, but he reached up and cupped Hermione's cheek and said, "It won't be that bad."

Hermione looked at Ryan to see his thoughts.

He nodded, "You'll like it."

Both boys descended on her.

"Jesus Fucking Christ," Cormac said skidding to a halt in the space that the other three had occupied.

"Cormac?"

"Cormac?"

"McLaggen?"

"What the fuck?" Cormac said stepping toward where Hermione was. She was still rooted on her knees.

Drunk, proud, annoyed, and full of testosterone, Brenden turned on Cormac.

"What do you think you're doing?" Brenden asked.

"I'm taking Hermione with me. And if you try to stop me," he paused to think of what he would do, "I'll break every bone in your body."

Brenden looked into Cormac's eyes, reading him.

"I swear to God. I will kill you," Cormac reiterated.

Ryan just stood there horrified to be found.

Cormac reached down to try and lift the drunk girl from the floor. He reached out with one hand and it took Hermione a second to realize what was happening.

Cormac stood directly between the two Camp Adventure counselors who had no idea what to do. He looked left directly into Ryan's eyes with a new level of hatred. Ryan had to look away. He was too ashamed. Next, Cormac looked at Brenden who met Cormac's stare with an equal fire.

"It's ok, Hermione," Cormac said still extending his hand.

She took it and went to stand up.

Brenden pressed back down on one of her shoulders and kept her knelt.

Without a moment's hesitation, Cormac retracted his hand that was extended to the girl and cocked it back before throwing a well landed punch at Brenden. Brenden took the punch as best as anyone could.

As he came to stand back up he lifted his left hand – the one in the cast - and struck Cormac unexpectedly. It landed on the same cheek that had been cut by the stray limb. Ryan was no longer standing still and joined the fight.

Hermione had too much going on in her head. Emotions, fear, alcohol, everything mounted and her body couldn't keep up. She crumpled to her side on the floor.

"Hermione?!" Cormac shouted. His only reaction was to reach her. He extended his left hand in her direction as if this would pick her back up. As he reached, that caused his body to blade and face Brenden completely, while it exposed his back to Ryan.

Ryan came up behind Cormac and with both his hands he shoved Cormac. Cormac stumbled forward and into Brenden. The force that Ryan pushed Cormac with and the fact that Brenden was too drunk, caused the pair to fall to the ground in a tangled heap.

Knowing that there was no use in holding back now, Brenden drove his fist into Cormac's ribs. Cormac groaned from the blow and worked to separate himself from Brenden. Cormac rolled off Brenden to his right and got on his feet as quickly as possible. He checked his surroundings while holding his side. He needed to make sure Ryan didn't get behind him again and surprise him. What Cormac found was that the pair of boys was standing in his way to Hermione. For them, that was a very bad place to be. Cormac lifted his hands up and was ready to fight.

Brenden and Ryan did the same with their hands, but Cormac noticed that they looked wobbly on their feet. The Red Drink was now completely catching up with them. Cormac stepped into a range where he could administer some pain. Of course, he reached out to administer some pain in Ryan Craig's direction first. As Cormac stepped, he led with a quick left handed jab, before he brought in a strong right cross. He landed his punch right on the button of Ryan's chin.

Ryan stumbled back from the force of the blow, but fell to the ground when his drunk legs tripped over themselves. He worked to stand back up, but was finding difficulties.

While Cormac chose his first opponent, the other was able to land a jab of his own on the back of Cormac's head. Cormac's immediate response to the unseen blow was to flinch his head, circle to face Brenden, and step back to create a safe distance. Brenden hadn't accounted for the distance that Cormac created when he circled away.

After landing a jab with his hand in the cast, Brenden wound up a punch with his dominate right hand that was supposed to tear Cormac's head clear off. But since he hadn't calculated the new distance, he threw his punch so hard it literally threw him off-balance and right in Cormac's crosshairs.

Cormac didn't wait for an invitation and delivered a punch to the side of Brenden's head. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and sent him down to the floor. Cormac looked over his shoulder and Ryan was still trying to find the floor beneath his feet. He was trying to stand, but couldn't compose himself enough to do it. He went back to face Brenden. His eyes seemed to be expanding out of his head. He was resting on all fours and looked like he had no idea where he was. The combination of Cormac's latest punch and all the alcohol must've jumbled his brain.

Cormac looked at him and made a rash decision. He would later regret that he did it, but he approached Brenden who was completely exposed and no threat to him or Hermione. Brenden looked like he was about to throw up. Cormac was just going to offer some help. Cormac planted his left foot in the dirt and lifted his right foot. He extended his heel and brought it down with all the force he could right into the soft spot in Brenden's ribs.

The teen collapsed, grabbed his side and vomited in the same moment. Cormac hoped that he broke a rib or two. Maybe he didn't break every single bone in Brenden's body, but hopefully, he followed through with a few bones in his ribcage.

"Fuck, Brenden," Ryan said from the floor.

Cormac felt so satisfied in landing that rib kick he almost forgot why he did it. Cormac knelt next to Hermione and saw that she was still breathing.

"Hermione, sweetie?" he said softly, but with a little worry in his voice.

She mumbled something. Cormac brushed a strand of hair from her face and left her for a second.

He approached, Ryan who still couldn't get to his feet. He was able to sit on his bottom, but that's as far as he got. Cormac approached him and took a knee in front of him. He knew that Ryan wouldn't be able to hurt him or Hermione any more.

Ryan just looked up at Cormac with an utterly perplexed look.

Cormac smacked him in the face to make sure he had Ryan's attention.

"Look at me," Ryan obeyed, "I know you'll probably wake up with a killer headache and no memory of this night, but I need you to listen really good right now. Are you listening? Ryan nodded drunkenly, "And I need you to try really hard to remember this." Cormac narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "If you ever touch her again," Cormac pointed at Hermione, "I will cut your fucking hands off." Cormac took one hand and took Ryan's face in it, "You got that?" Ryan nodded while his cheeks were pressed in Cormac's hand. "Good." Cormac threw him by his head back down on the floor. Ryan couldn't find the strength to move for several more minutes.

Cormac returned to Hermione's side and tried to stir her, but she was still too groggy to do anything.

"Ok. Come on, sweetie," Cormac said trying to work his arms under her body. With one hand he cradled her under her upper neck and her lower head. His other arm cupped her under the crook in her knees. Her head fell against his shoulder. Her arms rested on her torso limply.

Cormac walked as quickly as he could to get Hermione as far from that spot in the woods as possible. Cormac moved in the general direction that he thought the party was at. He was relieved to know that his assumption of moving in that direction was correct, because he was able to hear the music in the distance. Soon, Cormac came on the other side of the Camp Adventure barn. He didn't want to scream for help, he didn't want to draw any attention to Hermione; he just wanted to take care of her. Cormac laid her down for a second and tried to get some sort of response from her.

"Hermione, sweetie?" he said again.

Her eyes semi-flickered open, but closed after she mumbled something.

From where they were resting, Cormac could see all the camp vehicles. Cormac rested Hermione against the Camp Adventure storage barn and ran over to see what he could find among the cars. Cormac reached down into the first golf cart that he came across and there was a half-filled water bottle. Cormac ran back with it toward Hermione. Over the short distance, he opened the top and sniffed it. It was harmless water.

"Here, Hermione," he said picking up her hands. He tried to get her to hold the water bottle, but she just shook her head once, "Fine, I'll do it."

He opened the top and tipped her head back with one hand as he tried to administer some water. She was able to swallow the cap-sized amount of water he had poured into her mouth.

"Good girl," Cormac said trying to encourage her, "just a little more."

He tried to give her the same amount of water. He was delicate to make sure that she didn't choke on it, but he didn't get the response that he wanted. Hermione's body had found some sort of homeostasis before Cormac tried to give her some water, but the new addition to the liquid, flipped some switch in her body. She rejected the liquid and her body did her best to rid it of all the toxins she had worked to put in there.

Cormac was barely able to avoid what was coming next, but Hermione vomited in the spot he was just kneeling in. One uncontrollable wave, followed by another, and another, until she was left dry heaving since she had nothing left to expel.

"Aw, Hermione," Cormac said now on the other side of her. He was doing his best to keep her hair from flopping toward her mouth, as well as keeping her balanced. She was now more conscious – still wasted- but barely alert and exhausted as opposed to completely unresponsive.

Once Cormac was sure that she had gotten everything out of her system, he moved to help her to her feet.

"No, I just want to sit," Hermione tried to fight him.

"Come on, sweetie," Cormac said with a coaxingly sweet voice.

Reluctantly, she followed, "I don't want anyone to see me."

"I know," he told her. He wasn't leading her back toward the speakers and the music. Instead, he was going in the opposite direction. He led her to one of the Camp Adventure golf carts.

He sat her down and moved swiftly to the driver's side so he could continue supporting her. He wrapped an arm around her to both comfort her and also keep her supported upright.

"Cormac, I don't feel good," she confessed to him in a very drunk tone.

"I know, sweetie. Close your eyes. It'll be better real soon," Cormac promised her. He reached down between his legs, twisted the key that was left in the ignition and the lights to the golf cart turned on. The electric battery had sparked the vehicle to life silently. Cormac looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had noticed that he was committing some version of grand theft auto.

When no one shouted for him to stop, Cormac pressed the accelerator and went right to the main rain. The cool night air felt good on Hermione's face. She was resting her head on Cormac's shoulder who was focusing on getting Hermione back to her cabin. He looked down in her direction with a slight look of pity and guilt. She smelled like vomit, had some debris on her chin, her knees were covered in dirt, and just looked like she went through hell and back. Cormac kissed the top of her head, and pushed on the accelerator harder urging the electric powered vehicle to go faster.

Cormac drove passed the circle that would lead to the Camp Craig gatehouse and continued on the main road, until he turned down the path that led to the cabins and the fire pit. Cormac quickly got out of the car while Hermione rested her head against one of the supports of the golf cart that held the roof up. He unlocked the chain that denied access to that part of camp, drove the golf cart across the barrier, and replaced the chain. Next, he turned the cart lights off, and using the solar lights to drive through the mostly deserted camp right to Hermione's door.

Hermione was able to walk, but Cormac helped support her with each step. He helped her get through the door of her cabin. He helped her brush her teeth and use a washcloth to at least clean her face. He helped strip her out of her top, before putting a top for her on. He assisted in getting her out of her pants; they didn't bother putting bottoms on her. The last thing he did was make sure she got under her covers. She was asleep before he pulled her comforter up over her body.

Cormac didn't turn the lights off. He didn't crawl into bed with her. He just sat on the floor with his back rested against the wall of the cabin looking into her angelic sleeping face.

**A/N: Kind of an intense chapter...**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone! I know that last chapter ended on a pretty intense note, but here is the next day.**

**Chapter 26**

Hermione opened her eyes and the sun was barely coming in through her windows. She groaned. It felt like her head had too much air being forced into it and her brain was looking for a way out. She reached for her night stand and was elated when she found what she was hoping would be there.

Hermione sat up, with her eyes still closed, and took the glass of water up to her lips. Hermione hadn't remembered putting a glass of water out the night before. And she couldn't remember much about getting to her cabin the night before. Her brain began working backwards. There were bits and pieces of memories of cool night air running over her face, snippets of throwing up while sitting and…

She gasped and opened her eyes.

"What?!" Cormac had sprung up to his feet from the floor. He had fallen asleep in the same spot he was in the night before. He hadn't slept perched up, but had resorted to curling up like a dog on the floor. Hermione's sudden inhale had sprung him to his feet however.

"Cormac?!" Hermione said pulling her covers up to her chest. She was covered from her waist up, but she still held the blanket up.

"Hey," Cormac said softly. He wanted to see what her first reaction was.

A look of worry and panic came over her face, "What happened last night?!"

"Shh, it's ok," Cormac now slowly approached her. He knelt down next to the bed and was at eye level with her.

"What happened?!" she was bordering on hysterics.

Cormac hushed her and embraced her. She wrapped her arms around him and was horrified.

Tears started to run down her cheek. She was scared, confused, terrified, embarrassed and so thankful that she had Cormac.

Once she had regained control of her voice, Cormac released her. There were tear marks in his shirt.

"What happened?" she asked again.

"I don't know," he told her truthfully. He had only arrived at the very end of whatever the two boys were planning, "What do you remember?"

Hermione struggled to get through telling Cormac what she remembered without choking up with tears or embarrassment, but all she remembered was both the boys kissing her and their hands on her.

Cormac didn't need to fill her in on what he had seen.

"That's when I showed up," Cormac lied for her benefit.

"Ok, I think I remember that," she did remember seeing him appear, even though she didn't remember that she was looking up at him from her knees. Again, she burst into tears and needed consoling.

Cormac knelt on the bed and wrapped her in his arms. He didn't know if that was appropriate, given the debacle from the night before, but she didn't scream and fight him off the bed. On the contrary, she just held him tighter. Once she had eased her breaths, Cormac kicked his shoes off and joined her on the bed.

He sat with his body against the headboard and extended his left arm, up and around her body. She went to lean against his comforting shoulder, but Hermione caught a look at his left cheek for the first time.

"Cormac, what happened?" she covered her mouth as she saw the sight in front of her.

"Is it bad? I haven't even looked," he said. He knew that he had bled during the night, because the stray branch had cut him, and now his cheek had swollen so much it obstructed his view at an annoying angle.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Hermione started. She couldn't stop staring at his cheek, "but it looks horrible."

Hermione was correct that it looked horrible, but it was only gross at sight. A lot of things were going on with Cormac's cheek. He had the gash that had drawn blood, it was starting to color black and blue, it was swollen in an unsightly way, and when Brenden threw his casted hand at Cormac it acted like sandpaper and scraped all of the skin off of Cormac's cheek that it came in contact with. A gross shiny coat of raw skin was all that was left. It would come in with an ugly scab in a few hours.

Hermione reached up with a finger to touch it and it stung so badly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "You poor thing."

"Me?" Cormac huffed, "You're cute, Hermione. Don't worry about me. Come here," he wrapped his arm around her tighter.

Finally feeling the pain against her brain again, Hermione said, "I'm going to try to close my eyes again."

"Go ahead, sweetie," Cormac kissed the top of her head. She slunk her head down, so it was resting on the pillow that was right next to Cormac's hip. He placed his hand on her head and stroked it gently, "I'm here and nothing is going to hurt you."

Hermione opened her eyes again, when she heard the door to her cabin close. Her head still hurt, but the extra sleep and the glass of water Cormac had gotten her had made her want to die less. Rather than just the glass of water on the bedside table there was a plateful of dining hall food. Hermione could only assume that someone had brought her the food, but it was against Camp Craig rules to take any food out of the dining hall. A long time ago there had been a critter problem with too many crumbs being left in cabins.

Hermione sat up in bed thankful that she now had food. She didn't have an appetite, but she knew food would make her feel better. As she sat up, she noticed that Cormac wasn't still next to her. She felt a little disheartened, but she supposed he couldn't spend all day at her side. He had things he needed to do. She just had a disappointed look come across her face when she heard Cormac's voice. From the tone he was taking outside, Cormac was trying to be stern, but also hushed.

"Fuck you, Gary," was the first thing Hermione clearly heard from her bed.

"I can only look the other way and cover up for you so many times," Gary said. He sounded flustered.

Cormac let out a little mocking laughter, "Cover up for me? Tell me what I did wrong!"

Hermione could imagine Gary holding up fingers as he listed his points, "Fighting. Junior had to take Brenden Fonte to the hospital last night for his ribs. Stealing a Camp Adventure vehicle. Taking food from the dining hall. "

Again, Cormac spat disdainful laughter in Gary's direction, "Oh, I'm sorry. I took food from the dining hall. Take me away, officer."

Hermione had slowed her eating. She didn't want the sound of the fork connecting with the plate to drown out some part of this argument.

"Don't be an asshole, Cormac," Gary's voice sounded through the cabin walls.

"Don't be a fucking coward, Gary," Cormac pleaded, "I told you what I saw in confidence. You're the Head Counselor. You need to do something about this."

"I'm in a really weird spot, Cormac. I can't accuse the nephew of the Camp Director and his childhood friend of rape!"

"You're a fucking coward," Cormac spat in Gary's direction.

"You're angry," Gary tried to reason with him.

"You're goddamn right, I'm angry," Cormac responded.

Hermione stood up and made her way to the door. Cormac's voice was starting to rise.

She opened the door just as Cormac was accusing Gary of being a coward again. Cormac was reaching out to take Gary by the shirt.

"Go back inside to, Hermione," Gary hadn't seen that Hermione was peeking out her doorway yet.

"Fuck you," Cormac refused to listen to his once idol. Cormac now took hold of Gary's collar.

Gary slung Cormac to the ground with ease, "Go inside." Gary now looked up and saw Hermione. He only had a look of pity and apology, but words escaped him. He turned on the spot and jogged away.

"Fuck you, Gary," Cormac shouted after him. He sat up on a knee before he got to both his feet.

Cormac brushed himself off and saw Hermione in the doorway. He didn't say anything for a moment. He just headed in her direction.

Hermione was feeling choked up. She felt embarrassed, even though there was nothing for her to be ashamed of.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Hermione," Cormac said once he was standing on the last step to her cabin. He opened his arms to take her. Again, she placed her head against his chest.

"Does anyone else know?" she asked.

"No, I only told him, because I thought he would be able to do something about it," Cormac explained to her.

"It doesn't sound like he's going to do anything," Hermione wasn't sure if that was what she wanted or not.

"He isn't," Cormac told her, "Now, I've pushed him too hard and he won't cave."

"Why wouldn't he want to say anything?" she was breathing in his smell. He smelled a little like beer, sweat, and his own scent. He was still in his clothes from the night before.

"He says he doesn't want to accuse Ryan of anything, but it's more complicated than that."

Hermione didn't say anything so he continued.

"Last night was Gary's birthday, and it could get out that Gary was forcing people to drink more than a safe amount. Gary doesn't want to be blamed for the end of all our counselor parties. And Gary is worried if this goes to more legal avenues, he could be responsible for a lot of it, because he was, more or less, in charge."

"But still…" Hermione's words were interrupted by Cormac's agreement.

"I know," he moved his hand to the back of her head.

Hermione thought back to the pitying look that Gary had given her, and it made her want to cry even more.

"Cormac, I don't think I can deal with today," Hermione hated to admit it. She hated feeling vulnerable and weak, but she thought she would crumble if Gary gave her those looks throughout the whole day.

"What do you want to do?" Cormac asked her.

"Right now? I just want to hide in my room," she felt even more ashamed that she wanted to run away from her problems.

"That's fine," Cormac said pulling her away from his chest, "I will take care of this." He kissed her on the forehead and looked down at his watch.

"Fuck. I have to get ready for the campers. Are you going to be ok?" Cormac asked her.

Hermione liked when he was around to hold her, because she felt worlds better, but keeping him would be selfish, "Yeah, I'll be ok."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he told her, "Just hang out," he made his way to the door, but before he exited, he turned back one last time, "Do you want me to tell Naomi anything?"

Hermione shook her head where she was standing, "No. You don't need to do that, but when you get the chance just ask her to come to my cabin?" It was a request.

"You're got it," Cormac said before he turned to exit. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. Hermione was already crawling back into bed. He circled to her side of the bed, and kissed her on the cheek, "I'll see you in a bit."

Hermione smiled as she watched him hustle out of her cabin.

She felt bad that she was skiving out of her responsibilities, so she did her best to busy herself with her book, but that didn't last very long. She just began reflecting on her poor decisions from the night before and attempted to blame herself for allowing herself in that situation. At the end of the first hour alone, she was feeling quite down.

A knock on the door had Hermione turn her attention to the entryway.

Cormac entered the room carrying a plate full of food and a cup of some sort of juice.

"Hey, I know you just ate, but here is some more food," he stepped in and Naomi followed him, "And I brought you some company."

Cormac dropped the plate down on her night side table and took one of her hands in his. He didn't kiss her, even though he really wanted to, "I will leave you guys to it." He took her old dishes and headed out of the cabin.

"Hey, Hermione," Naomi sat down on the bed by Hermione's feet, "How are you feeling? Cormac only said you were having 'monthly problems' when Mr. Craig asked why you weren't feeling well today."

Hermione wished that Cormac had come up with a better lie, but she reasoned that if there was one way for no one to ever ask her again 'girl problems' was something Mr. Craig would never be able to bring up.

"Well…" it took Hermione a moment to compose herself, but she started telling Naomi about the night before. Of course Naomi went through the normal stages of disbelief, pity, rage, anger, and comfort. But it felt good to have someone else to talk to.

Naomi caught a glimpse at Hermione's clock and informed her that she needed to get back for the first session of the day, and she would do her best to stop by again.

Now that she was alone again, Hermione felt like she was going to spiral into reliving the previous night. She decided it would be best for her to try to put some food down again, and picked up the plate Cormac had retrieved for her. She had to admit that she was feeling much better than she expected to, given all she had had to drink and how she felt when she first woke up.

When she lifted the plate off of the night table, she saw that it had been resting on a piece of paper that she had never seen before. It was her new schedule for weeks three and four. She picked up her assignments and couldn't help but notice one name in particular that appeared next to hers more often than not. Hermione had her first two lessons with Cormac – Arts &amp; Crafts and an academic period, respectively. After that Hermione had another Academic period with Nicky and Haley. After lunch, Hermione had Tennis again, but this time it was with Gary rather than Cormac. Once tennis was over, Hermione was pleased to see that she had afternoon swimming with Cormac and Eric. To end the day, she had Cooking with Naomi.

Hermione flipped the paper over to see what her schedule looked like after "work hours". Hermione was pleasantly surprised to see what the rest of her evening would look like. She had the first thirty minutes between the end of the day and dinner as free time. There were a few names on the list of those that were gifted with free time and Cormac's name was one of them. After dinner, Hermione was torn about how she felt she needed to spend her time. She noticed that Cormac's name was signed up under "Camp Store" again, but Hermione's name was the only name listed under "Infirmary".

This Infirmary job was more or less to sit in the Infirmary "on-call" if anyone needed any simple first-aid. It was an easy enough job. For the most part she would sit there and spend her night administering bandages and ice packs, but she heard that it could also be boring.

Hermione spent the best part of an hour looking over her schedule and trying to see how she would enjoy it. She was so bored that she tried to find the pros and cons of having each period in a different time slot. Once she couldn't reason looking at the piece of paper any longer, she placed it back down on her night stand and picked up her book.

Hermione had just finished reading when her door swung opened again. It was Cormac, Naomi and Wayne. Cormac walked in first and stood at the foot of Hermione's bed. He smiled and winked at her.

Naomi was carrying a large bag of what looked like the largest snowflakes in the world at first glance.

"This is what we made for you in Cooking today," Naomi said handing the bag out to her friend.

"Is that Puppy Chow?!" Hermione got very excited.

"How do you know what that is?" Wayne asked looking at the bag skeptically.

"You've never had it?" Hermione sounded appalled, "It's chocolatey, peanut buttery, and sugary. You can't go wrong."

Hermione climbed to the edge of her bed and opened the bag for her friends to all take a handful.

"We just stopped by to drop it off," Naomi said, as she reached in and took out as much as her tiny hands would hold, "We," she motioned to Wayne" are supposed to be patrolling the swimming area before dinner."

Naomi and Wayne headed toward the door and left the other two alone.

"How'd the first day go?" Hermione asked Cormac. She was pleased to be able to have a conversation with someone after a day alone.

"It was good. Basic rules and stuff. Swimming this afternoon was good. Eric is great. And then basketball with Wayne was fine. How's your schedule look?" Cormac asked her after a very vanilla description of his day.

"I think it'll be good," Hermione gave Cormac a sideways look out of the corner of her eye now, "But the great Cormac McLaggen reduced to Arts &amp; Crafts and the Academic building?"

Cormac had a smile etched across his face, "I need to get more in touch with my creative and cerebral sides."

They both knew that he was lying. His reason for "requesting" those sessions was the bushy haired brunette he was looking at. They both smiled. Cormac was now sitting on the foot of Hermione's bed, and she was kneeling in the middle of the twin sized mattress. She hadn't moved from when she offered her personalized snack. Cormac looked over his left shoulder in her direction. It wouldn't take her a lot of effort to lean forward and kiss him, but it seemed like too much effort at the moment.

Cormac broke their silence and their eye gazing, "So am I going to get you dinner tonight?"

Hermione looked at him for a long second, "I think I'll come with you."

Cormac was pleased to hear that, "Are you sure?" he tried to keep his excitement from coming out, but he didn't do a very good job.

"Yeah, I've been in these pajamas too long anyways," Hermione said standing out of bed.

"Ok, I'll let you shower and I can pick you up right before dinner?" he suggested.

"Sounds perfect," she responded.

Hermione watched Cormac as he left and she felt her heart swell up with happiness. Once he was gone, she stripped down and entered the bathroom. She showered quickly because she was feeling like she needed a rinse. Once she was out of the bathroom, she tracked down a counselor t-shirt in her clean bag of laundry, threw it on, put on the rest of an outfit and headed out the door. Yes, Cormac had said he would meet her, but she was feeling anxious to get back to camp after taking half the day off.

Hermione knocked on Cormac's door and heard his voice from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Hermione twisted the doorknob and stepped into the cabin.

"Cormac, you vain prat!"

"What?"

He was standing in the bathroom with the door open. He wasn't doing much, other than investigating his looks in the mirror. He was pulling his skin taut and inspecting this and that side of his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she tried to find somewhere to sit. She couldn't help but notice that Cormac clearly didn't spend a lot of time keeping his cabin very clean.

Shirts, socks, shoes, and even a pair of underwear were thrown around the room. He had empty sports bottle littering his night stand and the floor around it. Hermione swiped a small pile of clothes away from the foot of his bed so that she could sit down.

As she was sitting, Cormac was turning the light to the bathroom out and stepped into his room. He looked like he was going to go around to the other side of the bed toward the door, but he stopped short.

He placed his hands on either side of where she was sitting. He was already leaning forward on the palms of his hands and was face level with Hermione. She was smiling at him.

"You know what was really fun?" he asked her.

Hermione knew that there was an underlying reason he was asking this question, because he had a crooked smile on his face, "What?"

"This," Cormac pecked her on the lips and pulled away, resting completely on his two feet.

Hermione had to look down at the floor in shyness.

"Come on, let's go get your girls," Cormac said extending a hand in her direction.

**A/N: I'll do my best to find some time to write some more chapters (because I love writing and I think that you guys like it), but this weekend I'll be on another business trip for two weeks, so my ability to write and post may be limited :/**

**jrb2009**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, everyone. Just got back from a business trip that required a lot of time and attention. I got some writing done while I was abroad, but not a lot of editing. I will try to edit as much as I can to get these chapters up to you!**

**Chapter 27**

When Hermione stepped out of the cabin and began the long walk to the dining hall with her Lady Otters, she realized that the heat wave had landed in full effect on the camp. The cabins weren't air conditioned, but inside the cabin and out of the sun was better than running around with the campers in the heat of the day.

By the time she reached the dining hall with the campers, she had sweat coming across her forehead, the back of her neck and her chest.

"Holy smokes. It's hot," Hermione didn't need to state the obvious.

"You weren't out during the hottest part of the day even," Dayton said from behind Cormac.

Hermione had gotten the sense that Dayton had developed a slight crush on her.

Dinner ended and Hermione was pleased to see that the Lady Otters got along well with Cormac's Hares. The way the ages aligned worked out perfectly. There wasn't a complete intermingling between the boys and girls, because that is just the nature of children, but it seemed like everyone enjoyed the others' company. It also allowed for Cormac and Hermione to enjoy their dinner next to each other.

Some of Hermione's favorite moments were simple things, but made her smile when she really needed a reason to smile. Cormac offered to get her a refill of her drink, picked the peas off her plate when she was finished with them, and brushed her arm with his hand as he sat down. It could've been an accident, but the way he looked at her after the contact let her know that it wasn't.

The meal was dismissed and people were dismissed.

"Cormac, aren't you coming to the camp store?" Dayton said once a majority of the camp arrived at the building.

"I'll be there in a second. I'm going to walk Hermione to the Infirmary," he responded to Dayton.

"But it's right there," Dayton pointed to the building that was twenty-five meters from where they were standing.

"Just go in and pick a game for me to beat you in," Cormac said pointing at the door.

Dayton looked like he wanted to follow, but he obeyed.

"Cute kid," Cormac said with a sigh.

"You love the way he looks up to you!" Hermione reminded him.

"Yeah, you're right," Cormac winked at her.

That wink made Hermione's legs weak.

Once at the door to the Infirmary, Hermione took out the key to the building that Mrs. Craig had deposited to her during dinner. Hermione opened the door and walked in. Cormac followed. Hermione found a place to sit and fired up the old desktop computer on one of the surfaces.

"You're ok here?" Cormac asked her.

"Yeah, I think so," Hermione responded. She was going to spend her time playing the standard games installed on the machine.

"Ok, cool." Cormac said standing looking around the room.

Hermione sensed that he was lingering. Hermione looked over her shoulder in his direction with questioning eyes.

"Ok, cool." He repeated and headed for the door.

Over the hour period that Hermione was in the Infirmary, she had to remove two splinters from two separate boys that were trying to help at the bonfire, and she had to administer one bandage to a scraped knee. The rest of her time was spent between Solitaire and Minesweeper. When she had her fill of computer games, she looked up at the clock and the period was almost over. She decided to shut the computer down and prepare to lock up.

The sun had gone down while she was in the Infirmary, but the heat remained. It felt like the ground was radiating all the heat it had trapped throughout the day. Again, the long walk from the Infirmary to the Lady Otter's cabin caused Hermione to sweat. She took a head count and told the girls that lights out were in an hour.

Hermione wasn't surprised, but was pleased none the less when Cormac was waiting outside the Lady Otters' cabin.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione interrupted him, "Yes."

"Yes, what?" Cormac asked her.

"Yes, you can walk me," she had a smile on her face.

A sly smirk came across his face, "Perfect."

Hermione didn't end up only walking with Cormac, because the timing worked out that most of the counselors that were in charge of cabins by Lower Bridge were heading toward the amphitheater at the same time. Cormac was standing closer to Hermione than normal while they walked, and when they sat down, his leg was right next to hers. Hermione smiled at the touch, but Cormac seemed to barely notice it.

Again, the Counselor meet-up was pretty much the same. Hermione returned the Infirmary key to Mrs. Craig and everyone was dismissed after the same comments about the "troublesome" campers were finished. The counselors moved in a large group that headed toward the Upper and Lower Bridges. While twelve of the eighteen counselors turned to head to the Lower Bridge, the other four that weren't Head Counselors made their way to Upper Bridge.

Everyone gathered around the bonfire pit, and complained about the heat. Hermione was trying to understand how the rest of the counselors dealt with the temperatures all day. She had to admit that she was not looking forward to spending any extended period of time in the sun. She would only have two periods in the sun, but they were immediately after lunch and the following period. That's when it was hottest.

Everyone seemed tired and a little testy due to how hot and exhausted everyone was. Eventually, everyone just sat around in silence.

People dispersed to check on their cabins and then decided to turn in for the night. Hermione approached the Lady Otters' cabin quietly and turned the knob so quietly she didn't know when the latch released the door. She peered into the room and every one of the campers was asleep.

She smiled, "Good night, girls." She said that to no one in particular.

When she turned around she was startled to see a figure standing in the dark. She gasped because she wasn't expecting to see Cormac standing there.

"Sorry," he said, feeling bad that he had startled her.

"It's fine," she said as she stepped down toward him. She should've been used to it by then.

As she moved in his direction, Cormac didn't take a single step. Hermione just approached him and remembered how tall he was. Her forehead came up to his chin. She didn't know why she was gravitating in his direction, but she didn't mind how close she was to him. Without warning or invitation, Cormac leaned forward and left his lips on her hairline.

He didn't stop, until Hermione stepped away from him, "Cormac, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Cormac said after returning to standing straight.

Hermione smiled and shook her head. She didn't need to say anything else, she just turned on the spot and started walking toward her cabin. She didn't need to look back to know that Cormac was following her.

Hermione climbed the steps to her cabin and opened the door. She heard Cormac climb the stairs behind her.

She turned around and faced him, "Cormac…"

He caught her off guard and that stopped her talking, "Let me know if you're not ok with this, but you know what would be fun?"

There was half a second when Hermione was completely aware of what was going on, but then in the next instance she lost how she ended up with her back against the wall. Hermione didn't think that it was forced or rough, but her breath was taken away for a moment, before Cormac's lips came crashing down on hers.

Hermione felt like she was standing perfectly plastered against the wall. Her bottom, back and head were all lined up with the wall. Cormac didn't put his hands on her, but instead they framed either side of her shoulders. His palms were flat against the wall and he was leaning into Hermione as he kissed her.

Cormac had done such a great job taking care of her and making her feel safe that she thought about nothing other than him. He wanted to proceed cautiously because he didn't know what kind of effects the previous night would have on her, but when she wrapped her arms around Cormac's neck and kissed him back with more passion than he started to kiss her with, he knew that he didn't need to hold back.

Cormac moved his left hand to the side of Hermione's face. He cupped her cheek for a moment until he brought it up to her ear. He playfully tugged on it, and then moved his hand up to take a grip in hair. Next, he gave a not-so-delicate tug.

Hermione gasped for a moment, and Cormac immediately released her. He separated their lips and took a step back to look at her. She saw that he had a look of mild horror on his face.

"No, that was fine," she tried to explain, "I was just surprised. I like it." She was referring to Cormac's rough play.

"You sure?" he wanted to make sure she felt safe.

She nodded and that was all that he needed to see.

Cormac came back to press her against the wall again. And Hermione smiled against his first wave of kisses. Instead of keeping his hands to himself, Cormac brought his hands to Hermione's bottom. He gripped and squeezed her, and once or twice Hermione made a sound that was gleeful.

Hermione slung her arms back around Cormac's neck and that was the motion he was waiting for. He quickly bounced up and down, and in an instant Hermione had her legs wrapped around Cormac's waist. Hermione had no idea how he was doing it, but Cormac was gliding across her cabin with no lights. Had he really spent that much time in there that he could move through there with his eyes closed?

A light flipped on and Hermione's bottom was resting on a cool surface. It was a nice contrast to the temperature in the cabin, and the heat in the room. When Hermione next opened her eyes, she realized that she was sitting on the counter of the sink in her bathroom.

With her legs still wrapped around Cormac's torso, she relinquished her grip around his neck and rested one hand behind her body. Their kiss broke for another short moment and Cormac was looking at Hermione with a hopeful sort of face, and Hermione did her best to tempt him with a sultry lip bite. It worked.

Cormac couldn't help himself and he placed a hand behind Hermione's back and pulled her closer toward him. He no longer placed playful kisses on her lips, but slid his tongue into her mouth. Hermione happily obliged. Their heads tilted and twisted this way and that way. Cormac was doing his best to pull her toward him and he thought that he couldn't do a better job of getting her close to him if he tried, but Hermione proved that he wasn't trying hard enough.

Hermione gripped the front edge of the sink and forced herself into Cormac's body. Cormac almost stumbled back at Hermione's driving force into him. He came back to her and their bodies pressed together. Cormac had the realization that there were too many layers between their bodies.

Cormac took the hem of Hermione's shirt in his hands and started to lift them upward. Hermione released her grasp on the sink for a second to work her arms through the holes. She replaced them back on the cool surface as soon as her staff shirt was on the floor. Cormac took it upon himself to remove his top. His shirt joined hers in a small purple pile on the floor. Now that their skin was in contact, every second they were kissing felt electric.

Cormac cast his thumbs on the fringe of Hermione's shorts. He rested them there while they kissed. The blood in his body was being robbed from his brain, and he was only having the most outlandish ideas flood to his mind.

He pulled away from Hermione for a moment and stepped away.

Hermione whined for a second. She stood up to chase him. Cormac hadn't left the bathroom; however, he had stepped toward the shower and turned the nozzle on. Water was spewing from the showerhead.

Hermione's eyes grew wide and again she got immediately shy. She half-covered her exposed skin, and looked down.

"Hey," Cormac cupped her chin so that she had to look at him, "Are you ok?"

Hermione paused for a second and just looked into his eyes. He was smiling so hard at her. She didn't respond.

He reached back into the shower and the water stopped flowing, "It's ok." He kissed the top of her head and went to exit the bathroom.

Hermione grabbed him by the wrist, "Hold on." She slid her hand behind the shower curtain and Cormac could hear the cascading of water.

Cormac's eyes shot wide.

"Kiss me," Hermione said to him. Cormac answered the request eagerly.

Hermione knew what she was implying and she decided it was a logical answer. Cormac had been good to her. She was tempted to say he was good FOR her. He protected her, he took care of her, he cared FOR her. This was right.

They were kissing for so long, steam started to fill the room. Cormac pressed his lips against Hermione's and she allowed him access. Cormac then started to put his hands on Hermione's soft body. He grabbed on the tight skin on Hermione's exposed hip. He gripped her tightly and again Hermione's gasped, but this time, Cormac didn't release her. He was now starting to think with his other head.

Hermione reached up and took the muscles of Cormac's back in her hands. She gripped on him and that made him want more of her. He started to work his hands up her body and he started moving her toward the shower.

Hermione took one step backwards tentatively. She didn't want to back into the tub and topple over. She was letting her emotions get the best of her, and she found that she was truly enjoying herself. Everything was going great up until the moment Cormac brought his hand behind Hermione's back. He made an attempt to lift her sports bra up, but Hermione stopped him, to his great dismay.

Hermione's mind flashed to the night before and the thought of the two boys groping her crept in. She went to push away from Cormac. Not because of who he was, but from the experience from the night before. She pressed her hand up to Cormac's chest and extended her arms. Cormac remained unmoved. He didn't know what she was trying to do. Even though Cormac didn't budge, Hermione's arm extension forced her to step backwards. Her knee buckled over the edge of the bathtub and she started to tumble into the shower.

Her instinct was to reach up and grab something. The only thing she could reach was the shower curtain that was supported by a weak tension rod. The shower rod clicked out of place and fell. Cormac was able to move fast enough, realizing that Hermione wasn't playing. He was able to close the distance between them and caught her with one hand around the waist. He seemed to be impossibly fast and coordinated.

Hermione would never live down what happened next. Cormac's rescue came so quickly that the shower rod hadn't come down yet. There was a millisecond where both of them were able to appreciate Cormac's save, but then the curtain rod came down and whacked Cormac on the top of the head.

"Ow," was all he said. His tone was plain and simple. He did his best to hold back a silly smile, but it crept through.

They looked into each other's eyes for a second and laughed. Water was spraying everywhere now, and the shower curtain had to be put back in place, but they couldn't stop laughing. From the angle Cormac was standing and holding Hermione at he couldn't leverage both of them to their feet and he was starting to worry that he would lose his balance. He lowered Hermione until her butt was on the edge of the tub. She was doing her best to cover her mouth and keep from laughing, but seeing the curtain rod hit him in the head, and his innocent reaction was too much.

"You think that's funny, Granger?" he asked her in a serious tone, even though he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

That made her laugh harder.

"At least help me," he had picked the shower rod up and was trying to put it back in place, "turn the water off. Or your bathroom is going to flood."

Hermione reached back and shut the water off, while Cormac reached up as high as he could to put the rod in place. He was right in Hermione's vicinity as he stretched with every inch the good lord had given him. His tight muscles were right there waiting for Hermione to kiss them. She reached out with her lips and kissed his highest rib.

"Don't start that again, or I will drop this thing," he warned her.

Again, Hermione giggled.

"Ok, that should stay," Cormac said stepping back and admiring his work.

"Well then, come back over here," Hermione said to him.

Cormac took his first real look at her and laughed. She was half naked and what she had left on was flecked with water, and half of her head was matted with the water that had splashed off of the fallen shower curtain.

"You had a big day today," Cormac took her in his arms and looked down into her eyes, "How about you shower and head to bed?"

Feeling like she had been rejected, Hermione hung her head and nodded it up and down.

"I'll see you in the morning, sweetie," Cormac said crooking his head down and kissing her on the cheek. He broke away from her and his hands were the last things to break contact with her. They started wrapped around her back, and then as he released the hug, he traced them from her back to her shoulders, then down her arms, until the tips of their fingers drifted apart.

He made his way toward the door.

"Hey, Cormac," Hermione said softly, but he had no problem hearing her.

With the doorknob in his hand, he turned around. She had his focus.

She couldn't muster the strength to look him in the eyes while she spoke, "Do you want to come back after you shower?"

She looked up when she had finished speaking. He had a disbelieving smile on his face.

"Absolutely," it was nice to hear that, "I'll be back in a bit."

Hermione jumped in the shower and wasn't disappointed when they seemed to waste all the hot water, because looking back at their decision to take a "hot" shower together would've been a poor choice. It was too hot. It was a welcomed relief when a cooler stream of water came out of the showerhead.

After a quick shower that just rinsed the mugginess off her body, Hermione put her hair up, got in a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. She approached her bed and pulled the covers down at the foot of her bed. There was a flat sheet that was below the blanket and Hermione unfolded that as well.

Just as the flat sheet draped at the foot of the bed the door opened and Cormac stepped in. His hair looked wet still and he was wearing a pair of shorts to sleep in and a t-shirt. Hermione acknowledged him by smiling in his direction. Cormac smiled back and flipped the light switch off.

Hermione climbed into the bed and without a word Cormac mimicked her. Hermione pulled up a pillow under her head and faced Cormac as he prepared to sleep. He lifted his shirt up and over his head and deposited it by the door where he had left his shoes. He also grabbed a pillow and stuffed it under his head. The pair of them looked into each other's eyes in the night.

They couldn't help but spend a little time kissing, before Hermione let out a large yawn.

"Ok, bedtime," Cormac said releasing his arms from Hermione.

"Are you sure?" Hermione questioned.

Cormac had just begun a yawn of his own, "Yeah, we had a long day."

"Fine," Hermione said. She rolled over onto her other side and tried to have sleep take over.

She felt the flat sheet cascade on her, and then she felt Cormac's arm come across her ribcage. Cormac's body pulled right up alongside Hermione's and again she felt safe and cared for. Cormac's warm breath was coming down on the top of Hermione's head and it wasn't long before his breathing was steady enough for her to know that he had fallen asleep.

His steady breathing and warmth quickly pushed her over the edge and she was drifting to sleep as well.

Hermione woke up in the middle of the night with a sweaty, sticky feeling on her body. She hadn't been asleep for an hour yet, but had grown uncomfortable by all the contributing factors that overheated her. The air was muggy from the heat wave, the thin blanket that was barely insulating any heat trapped some, and the boy with the impossibly fast metabolism felt like a furnace next to her.

Being pulled from sleep and feeling distressed from the heat, Hermione was feeling cranky.

"Cormac, you're too hot," she said half-awake, with no patience, and while she tried to throw his arm off her.

If Hermione was half-awake, he was one-quarter awake. Even though he was mostly in a dream state, he heard her. He also understood what she meant. He knew that his body heat was making her uneasy, but he couldn't help himself. He responded solely on instinct.

"I know, I'm too hot," his voice was so tired, that Hermione smiled.

He rolled over and did the best he could to keep his heat to himself.

Quickly, they were both asleep again.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Hi everyone, I know I keep using a busy schedule as an excuse for why I haven't been posting/writing, but I need to make more time for it. It makes me happy and I have a lot of fun with it. I've spent the last few days editing what I've written so far (it was tough to think of new well-written ideas while in airports). I've had a lot of layovers and that gave me time to sit down and edit some chapters to be shared. Let me know what you think and I will upload them for you!**

**Chapter 28**

The stifling night had the teenagers shifting in the bed all night long. And the position they found themselves in when they woke up, couldn't've been choreographed or set up more perfectly.

Hermione was sleeping diagonally in the double bed on her back. Her head was tilted to her right and she was sleeping like a peaceful angel. Through all their shifting, and even though it was starting to warm up, Cormac looked like he was almost lying on top of Hermione. His head was nestled in the side of her neck that her head was not tilted to. His body was completely on top of Hermione's left arm, and he draped if left arm over the top of her chest. His left hand reached up and was holding Hermione's wrist delicately. His other arm was rested under his head. Under the blankets, their legs tied together in an intricate twist.

The alarm sounded and their eyes crept open. Both of them groaned at being woken up. Cormac flailed his right arm in the direction of the sound and it took him two tries, but eventually he was able to smack the "Snooze" button on the clock. Pleased with himself, he nuzzled back down in Hermione's neck and looked to close his eyes again.

When he buried his head against her skin, Hermione sniggered.

"Cormac, we need to get up," Hermione said trying to push his dead weight off of her so that he would wake up.

"Shhh," he picked up his left hand and clumsily dropped it on her face, as if that would stop her from waking him up.

"Cormac!" Hermione giggled.

"Five more minutes," he said one last time, hoping she would allow him to sleep.

"Come on," she turned her neck so she could place a kiss on his cheek.

"Fine, but one more," he said moving away from a sleepy-sounding voice.

"Only one," Hermione said as if she was telling a child to only have one cookie. She pecked him again on the cheek.

Cormac took in a deep breath and placed his palms on the mattress. He pushed his weight up off of the girl and slung a foot over to build the momentum to roll off of Hermione. He placed his feet on the floor of the cabin and hunched over his knees. He took a hand to his face and tried to wipe the tiredness from his eyes.

Hermione had worked up to a seated position and was stretching and yawning. She closed her eyes through her yawn and when she opened them, she was surprised to see Cormac's face right in front of hers.

She gave a slight jump. Cormac smiled and pecked her on the lips, before he willed himself to his feet.

"I'll see you at breakfast," he said scooping his shirt with his foot. He threw it in the air with a kick and caught it. He was "dressed" a second later. Next, he wedged his shoes on and waved before taking a lingering look in Hermione's direction. Before she knew it, he was out the door.

Hermione couldn't keep a smile off her face while she got ready for the day.

At breakfast, the Hares and the Lady Otters shared a long table again. Cormac and the Hares showed up too late for there to be any space for him to sit next to Hermione, but they shared plenty of looks throughout the meal from down the table that their campers were sharing.

The camp bullhorn went off and Mr. Craig dismissed everyone to the first session of the day, and he did his best to remind all the campers, but mostly the counselors to take frequent water breaks if they were instructing periods that would be in the prolonged heat.

Hermione got up and went to an empty corner and started calling out for those that were attending the Arts &amp; Crafts period. Hermione was joined in the corner by Sam Townsend, who was a very sweet counselor, but quiet.

Before Hermione and Cormac dismissed their table, one of Cormac's younger Hares approached him and asked if Cormac could double knot his sneakers. Hermione noticed that Cormac didn't say goodbye to her as he went to help the boy out. She was slightly disappointed. Sam had acquired an accurate head count, and the group stepped out to the already hot morning.

There was a large group headed toward Lower Bridge. The morning swim group was joined with the people that were heading with Hermione to Arts &amp; Crafts.

"My god, it's hot," Cormac was trotting to catch up to Hermione's side.

"What are you doing?" Hermione questioned him, "Isn't there a football period?"

"Yeah there is," Cormac said nonchalantly.

"And you're not going?" Hermione cocked an eyebrow in his direction.

Cormac couldn't think of the right thing to say, but was saved the chance of needing to say anything. The pair of them were on the near side of Lower Bridge, and from the far side two figures were moving against the flow of the rest of the traffic.

"Hold on, Eric. Connor forgot his towel in the dining hall," Gary was walking across the bridge leading a young camper and that is what interrupted Cormac needing to answer Hermione.

Hermione didn't know what to say or do. She hadn't necessarily been a member of Cormac and Gary's argument, but she knew that she was the object of their conversation. She did her best to try to hide behind Cormac so it wouldn't upset either of the boys, but the one second that Hermione peeked up, she made eye contact with Gary.

Again, Hermione had a horrible feeling rush over her. She felt like a burden for driving a stake between Cormac and Gary. She felt foolish for getting herself in that situation. And she felt like she just wanted to hide in bed as all the memories she could remember flooded back in.

Hermione couldn't see, but Cormac was staring Gary down as he walked passed. It was a moment that defined the rest of that week. Like two wolves in the wild, Cormac walked away the alpha as Gary seemed to hang his head, too ashamed to look Cormac in the eyes.

Every ounce of him wanted to reach up and wrap an arm around Hermione, but he would've felt weird about it with all the people around.

He took the second option, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," she lied, "it's got nothing to do with Gary. You know?"

"I guess," he told her, "but maybe a friendly face in Arts &amp; Crafts will help make you feel a little better." His tone turned much brighter.

Hermione twisted her head in his direction. He was already looking her way and threw her a quick wink before she knew what hit her.

In the Arts &amp; Crafts building, the campers broke up and did whatever they wanted, but as always the weaving of friendship bracelets were the main activity. Hermione was crafting intricate circles within circles within circles in one pattern, while some of the campers from the second week of camp were trying to teach Cormac how to make a bracelet of the simplest pattern.

Hermione enjoyed watching him struggle to get the thread twisted around the correct pieces. It was such a delicate task, that no matter how strong and fast he was on the athletic field, he couldn't get the hang of trying string to another piece.

In the hour long session, Hermione whipped up three bracelets of intricate patterns. She handed them out to the closest campers in her vicinity. When she looked over, Cormac's attempt wasn't longer than the width of Hermione's finger.

She couldn't help herself, "That's it?"

"Hey, watch it," Cormac said still sitting at his table while he tried to get one last loop completed, "Sonofabitch!"

The older campers laughed, the younger campers covered their mouths waiting to see Cormac get in trouble, and Hermione just looked sternly at him.

"Cormac!" her tone was stern.

"Sorry, I screwed up again," he said trying to untie his error.

"Well, it's ok. You can bring it with us," Hermione said waving for him to join. A lot of the younger campers were waiting to see some serious punishment dished out, but were left disappointed, as Cormac only stood up still staring down at the different strings that hardly resembled the beginning of a friendship bracelet.

"In all your years at camp, you never had a friendship bracelet?" Hermione said walking side-by-side to Cormac. He had grown frustrated realizing that he couldn't walk and craft at the same time.

"No I thought they were lame," he told her.

"How can they be lame?" one of the girls that taught Cormac how to braid his bracelets asked. She held up her right arm and from her wrist to halfway up her arm it was only bracelets.

"He's just jealous, Karen," Hermione said showing that she had a few bracelets already. Hermione had been given many more over her first two weeks, but she thought that a sleeve of bracelets looked gaudy. So she cut off the bracelets of campers that weren't attending camp anymore. She only had two at the moment.

Hermione was excited for her session in the Academic Building next. She had a lesson plan for the week that spanned across literature. She was going to give a short lesson on different types of literature and the history of the different genres and then open up some time for the kids to have some free writing. It was a new concept, but she thought of it during the middle of the previous week.

Once in the Academic Building, Hermione invited everyone to sit down and handed out composition notebooks for the campers to take notes if they pleased, and then to use for their free writing. Hermione began her lecture on poetry once everyone had written their name in their journal and was waiting attentively with a pencil in their hands.

She was interrupted in her lesson twice. Both times were outbursts of Cormac at himself.

"Stop being stupid," the second outburst was uncalled for.

Hermione was in the middle of explaining some of the finer points of theming in poetry when Cormac started to untie his mistake.

"That's it," Hermione said approaching him, "give it here. You can have it after the session."

Most of the campers chuckled, because that was normally a phrase reserved for children. Cormac's reaction was just as ridiculous.

"No, I'll be quiet. I promise," he said trying to hide the bracelet from Hermione's sight.

"Nope, you had your chance," she stood there with her hand still outstretched to him.

With a reluctant glare, he handed over his mess of string.

"Thank you," Hermione said with a wry smile as she returned back to the front of the "classroom". She rested it on the work station at the front of the room and went back onto her conversation about poems.

Cormac attempted to remain upset with Hermione for removing the one thing that seemed to keep him motivated through Arts &amp; Crafts and a period in the Academic Building. He did his best to try to appear aloof, but Hermione was too special to avoid.

Cormac was drawn into looking her way over and over again. Each time she would scan the room with her eyes and reach him, her smile reminded him that he was supposed to be pouting. So in order to do that, he would look off in a different direction of the room. He was clearly being dramatic, and Hermione had to work hard to hold back a giggle. It didn't take long for Hermione to win over Cormac's attention, and he gave up trying to brood over his missing bracelet.

Again, Cormac was taken aback at how much Hermione seemed to know. For someone that attended a wizarding school, Hermione knew an awful lot about things outside the Hogwarts curriculum. Hermione had just finished an interesting point on stanza length, when she decided to turn the period over to a little free writing time.

"So everyone has a pencil, and everyone has their notebook, so feel free to start writing," she said trying to keep her excitement in, but she was speaking very animatedly with her hands.

"What are we supposed to write?" one of Hermione's Lady Otters asked.

"Anything you want," Hermione's response seemed obvious to her, but the little girl continued having an unsure face about her, "How do you feel?" the preteen still had a blank face, "What are you thinking?" the camper seemed to rattle her brain to try to figure out what she was thinking, "What do you like?"

The camper seemed to weigh the ideas in her head, and something finally stuck.

"You got it?" Hermione asked her once she saw the lightbulb turn on in the girl's eyes.

She nodded in Hermione's direction.

"Perfect," Hermione was beaming, "write whatever you want. And then we can see if anyone will want to share in a bit."

Hermione returned to her workspace and started to write down in her own notebook, but she was too excited to see if she had inspired the group to get her thoughts coherently moving in one direction for poetry. From her seat, she looked into the room, and she was pleased with herself.

Everyone appeared to have their thinking caps on. Some people we hunched over their papers and scratching away, others were gnawing on the ends of their pencils trying to reread and see if their poems flowed. And one little boy was trying to find a word that rhymed with "boogers".

Hermione couldn't help but notice one person among the crowd that was scribbling away frantically. She was nervous and wondered if a pencil could start a friction fire. Hermione watched as Cormac turned to the other side of a page in his notebook. Without slowing down his pace, he kept his words flowing.

Hermione was painfully curious to see what he was writing. She stood up and circled around the classroom. She pretended like she was interested in what the campers were writing, but ultimately she took a path that led straight to Cormac. She had succeeded in sneaking up on him.

Hermione peered down on the paper and was able to catch a few words, _You think you're_, but Cormac noticed that Hermione was peeping.

He covered his work and looked back in her direction accusingly.

"Excuse me," he said closing the book so she could no longer read over his shoulder.

"What? I was curious," Hermione looked and sounded so innocent she almost convinced him.

"Not for your eyes," he caught himself, "not for anyone's eyes. These are my thoughts."

Everyone had stopped writing for a moment and everyone was listening.

"Get out of here," Cormac said waving his pencil in a silly fashion in Hermione's direction.

Hermione walked away with a plan, "Go ahead everyone. Just a few more minutes."

After another five minutes of the free writing, Hermione requested that everyone put their pencils down and asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to read their poems aloud. It took a while for someone to raise the courage to stand up and share.

The first reader was the girl that couldn't settle on a topic to write about. She had ended up drafting a poem about her new puppy Charlie. Her reading was great, but her writing wasn't. Hermione led a clap and after the first person shared, more people began to volunteer. Three more campers wanted to share their poems, and to Hermione's horror they were just as bad as the first in her modest opinion. Of course, she continued to encourage them, but she was feeling a little down.

Hermione scanned the room for anyone with their hand up that was willing to share, but no one had a hand raised. What she did notice was that one pencil was still furiously putting down words.

"Cormac," Hermione said with a sly smile.

The boy held up a finger to motion her to be silent for just a second longer while he finished one more thought. After he finished, he lifted his head up.

"Yeah?" he asked as he curled the last letter on his page.

"Why don't you read your poem?" Hermione suggested.

"No, I'm ok," Cormac said closing his book.

"Come on, Cormac, I bet it's really good," Hermione said starting to let a grin come across her face.

"No, this isn't a poem," he was patting the closed journal in front of him, "These are my football notes, for our next match against Camp Adventure."

His tone was so perfect, Hermione almost believed his lie.

"No, I think everyone wants to hear what you wrote," Hermione said bringing the group of campers on her side.

Some of the campers started trying to encourage him to read what he wrote as well.

"I would, but my throat kind of hurts," he brought one hand to his neck, "Yeah, I'm thinking of heading to the Infirmary after this so that Mrs. Craig can take a look at me."

"If your throat hurts, Hermione can read it," the Lady Otter responded.

"That's a great idea, Alison," Hermione said walking toward Cormac with her hands extended again.

"No, that's ok," Cormac said removing the book from the table and putting it behind his back. He was done for.

Hermione approached closer and closer, and to make matters worse the campers started chanting, "Read it. Read it. Read it."

Hermione was practically on top of Cormac as she tried to wretch the journal from his grip.

"FINE! I'll read it," he said aloud, "Savages," was what he mumbled under his breath.

Hermione retreated back to the front of the room silently.

Cormac stood up, and flipped to the first page.

"What's the title of you poem?" Hermione asked him.

"You drive me crazy," Cormac said with a very serious face.

"That's not a nice thing to say to someone," Hermione was hurt for a moment.

"The title of my poem is _You Drive Me Crazy_," he clarified.

"Oh, well please continue.

He cleared his throat and then he started to read. His tone was bland and unenthusiastic, but the words stuck out in Hermione's mind.

"_I hate when I'm wrong, I love when you're right,_

_I think I'm smart, but you're so bright,_

_I've been known to break the rules and get in a fight,_

_You're sometimes boring and uptight,_

_You drive me crazy._

And that's it…" before he shut the book, there was a second where he seemed to scan the page up and down one more time, but there was something that stopped him. He closed the journal and sat back down.

"That's it?" Hermione asked with her eyes shooting in his direction.

Cormac didn't say anything. He just nodded and met her gaze with his own. For a moment, Hermione and Cormac were the only people in the room.

Truth be told, Cormac had eight more stanzas, but was too embarrassed to read them out loud. He was proudest of one stanza in particular.

_I'm no good for you, you're too good for me,_

_Sometimes I want to explode like TNT_

_I couldn't get tired of being around she,_

_That beautiful, perfect Hermione,_

_You drive me crazy_

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with the story!**

**jrb2009**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Burning the midnight oil here, but wanted to upload this chapter.**

**Chapter 29**

By Tuesday afternoon leading into Wednesday, the temperature was only getting hotter and tempers were rising. The campers were starting to get warn down, and it didn't take much to get them into a fit. The counselors were starting to fatigue, and they were losing patience with one another. People were less likely to help out, and everyone seemed to be on edge and annoyed.

Little thing started bothering people. Naomi's usual good natured plans to meddle seemed annoying.

"Quit putting your nose in everybody's business. It's too hot!"

Nicky's constant optimism even put the counselors in a sour mood.

"Knock it off, Nick. It's too hot!"

Cormac's need to show off was rubbing everyone the wrong way.

"Stop begging for attention. It's too hot!"

Gary's alpha nature, and his attempts to try to rally the troop seemed to get under everyone's skin.

"Give it a rest, Gary. It's too hot!"

Even Wayne Jones' constant effort to be the nice guy got on people's last nerves, "Stop being so great! It's too fucking hot!"

The uncomfortable, unusual mugginess of the climate was throwing people off, but it was also approaching that time of camp where everyone was too familiar with one another, and tempers were beginning to rise.

Hermione and Cormac were not immune to either of these flaws. To their delight, Cormac's Hares and Hermione's Lady Otters got along great, and anytime there was a large assembly the two groups seemed to migrate toward one another. If it hadn't been so hot, or if the conditions were more favorable, this would've been perfect, but something was off. There was a weird tension that couldn't be explained. Cormac and Hermione were going back and forth and up and down at each other at parts of the morning.

Now that it was lunch, Hermione sat down in her usual seat for the session next to Cormac. Hermione sat so close to Hermione that their legs touched. It was sticky and gross. Hermione immediately put her hands up and pushed Cormac away. Cormac made a disgusted sound.

"I hate being this hot and gross," Hermione huffed out as she made a little space from him.

That was one moment of when things between them were affected by the heat in a negative way, but the following period was at the lake, and Hermione had let Eric and Cormac talk her into wearing a bathing suit to the period. There was a whole section in the rulebook that explained that female counselors had to wear one piece bathing suits around the campers, but Hermione didn't own any one piece bathing suits. Since she was never one to break the rules, she was reluctant to let the boys sway her, but Tuesday afternoon she caved.

Before she exposed herself in her two piece, Hermione checked all three hundred and sixty degrees of her surroundings. When she saw that neither the Craigs nor the Head Counselors could spot her, she threw her top off and felt a warm sense of rebellion on her light skin.

The campers didn't know that Hermione wasn't allowed to wear the bathing suit she had chosen so they were none the wiser, but Cormac and Eric couldn't resist pushing Hermione's buttons.

"Here they come!" Eric called out for a second time during the period.

Hermione immediately thought that he was referring to the director and his wife. She did her best to casually cover herself up, but when she peered over her shoulder – face turning red – she realized that the pair had been kidding again.

"Just come on in, Hermione," Cormac said hanging onto the dock by his long arms.

Eric had the majority of the campers a little ways out. There were boundaries to the area that the campers were expected to swim in, and they were roped off by lines kept afloat by little buoys. Eric was currently playing some game that seemed like water tag. The strongest swimmers in the group had no problem going from side to side and treading water between rounds, while some of the younger and less strong swimmers had to grab onto the buoys to allow themselves a rest.

Eric had everything in control and swam like a fish. This gave Cormac the ability to drift away and flirt with Hermione.

"Come on in, Hermione," Cormac said just off to her side. He was in water deep enough to fully submerge himself, but since he was using the dock to lift himself up, he was only up to his ribs in water.

"No," Hermione said feeling shy. She didn't want to take her bottoms off and reveal her bikini, because she felt unsure of revealing that much skin in front of the campers.

"What if I splash you?" Cormac said threatening her by pulling his hand back like he was going to scrape his palm across the surface of the water.

"Don't you dare," she didn't know why she didn't want to be splashed – it was hot enough outside, but she just knew that she didn't want him to.

He looked back at her with an impish flash in his eyes.

Hermione stared back at him in a testy manner.

Cormac delicately slapped the water and a wave that reached the middle of Hermione's shins cascaded over her harmlessly.

"Cormac!" Hermione sounded offended, "I said not to."

As she finished the last word in the sentence, she swung her foot in the lake and covered him in a wall of water.

In defense, Cormac continued to splash her some more. He wanted to keep his splashing controlled so that he only got her legs wet, but Cormac would be the first to admit that he was not a strong swimmer.

Now that Hermione was retaliating by kicking water in his direction, Cormac had to retreat from the dock and out a little further. He was attempting to tread water and splash back, but his actions were wild and uncontrolled. It didn't take long before he was splashing her higher and higher.

"Cormac!" Hermione said shouted back at him as he was starting to cover her with water. She was wearing a bathing suit, but didn't want her shorts to get soaked. She still needed to run to the rest of her periods for the day.

Even though she attempted to scold him, Cormac did his best to continue treading water, while agitating her. Since her attempt at reprimanding him didn't seem to slow him down, Hermione thought that more retaliation was required.

From Hermione's vantage point on the high ground of the dock, she was able to leverage higher volumes of lake water at faster rates over him. As she flailed her left leg, her right foot would poise for another strike. Pretty soon there was a constant rain dealt to Cormac's face. He was finding it hard to catch breaths between Hermione's attack.

The combination of trying to fight back, treading water, blocking off Hermione's splashes and finding difficulty in breathing left Cormac helpless. To start, he was laughing heartily and having a lot of fun, but soon his lack of skills in floating caught up with him. With one well-placed kick, Hermione sent a barrage of water right for Cormac's face. Hermione didn't mean for their harmless splash fight to get malicious, but Cormac inhaled at exactly the wrong moment. He went into a coughing fit as he tried to find his breath.

Knowing not to be confident in his swimming and feeling like he was choking as his breath was interrupted by water, Cormac began to panic. He made a split decision to immediately swim for the dock. Hermione, unaware of Cormac's struggles, continued her storm of lake water splashes. It wasn't far to the docks from where Cormac had swam out to, but again, he wasn't a strong swimmer.

Hermione assumed that Cormac was losing the fight even though he hadn't announced a ceasefire or truce, so she continued kicking spray in his direction. Not a moment too soon, Cormac reached the dock. With one lunge, he sprung up and grabbed the wooden pier. He was one foot away from Hermione, and she thought that this was some sort of diversionary tactic.

Cormac was panting as he held himself out of the water. He was turning his head away from Hermione's continued assault, but once he caught his breath he couldn't hold back a laugh or two.

"You're not going to get me," Hermione said as she tried to leverage herself so she could really turn on the heat with her attacks.

Blindly, Cormac used his hands to scale across the dock in Hermione's direction. Rather than retreating from the fight, a fight that Hermione felt that she had earned the upper hand, Hermione leaned out with her legs so that she could extend a little further out to get a better angle to hinder Cormac's advances with more assaults.

"This will teach you from messing with m…" Hermione was taken by surprise.

Cormac sprung from the dock with his arms and wrapped Hermione up by one of her ankles. He hadn't gotten a good hold of her, but he had done enough. Hermione wavered on the edge her seat, but ultimately couldn't keep her balance. She was forced to push off the dock to avoid the dock and entered the water.

When Hermione surfaced, she wanted to have a look of playful rage, but she didn't get the chance. Cormac was immediately by her side and she was confused.

She was attempting to scold him, because now she was soaked. Her bathing suit was obviously wet, and a harmless casualty, but now Hermione's shorts were soaked and her hair was going to take forever to dry.

"Cormac!" was all that she could get out. Cormac's hands were immediately on her, but not in the way that she was expecting. He seemed to be searching for something in her hair.

"Hold still," Cormac said as he worked to tread water with his legs only, while he tried to inspect the back of her head.

"What are you doing?" Hermione said trying to fight him off of her, she didn't know if they were still playing or not.

"Didn't I see you hit your head?" he asked her still trying to get a better look.

"I don't think so," she said involuntarily moving her hand up to her head, "Not this time."

"Well, that's nice for a change," Cormac said releasing her.

It was sweet how he was trying to take care of her. They worked to stay afloat together for a second before Cormac confessed that he wouldn't be able to tread water anymore. He headed back toward the dock. He pulled himself onto the wooden platform and reached down to help Hermione up.

It was amazing how Eric was still in control of the session during all of Cormac and Hermione's horseplay. Once on the dock, Cormac made a motion that reminded Hermione of a dog shaking himself off. Hermione did her best to cover up to avoid the eyes of the campers.

"Cormac, where is your towel?" Hermione said trying to remain hushed, but also sound urgent.

"I don't know, where is your towel?" was his response.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" her tone sounded astonished, "You don't know where your towel is?"

"I don't have a towel. I usually drip dry or use a campers'," he told her, "Just use one of the kids' towels."

"I'm not going to steal one of the campers' dry towels," Hermione rolled her eyes in his direction.

"Well…" it looked like an idea popped in Cormac's head. He turned and faced the lake, "Eric, where is your towel?" He shouted so that his friend could hear.

Eric called back, "It's hanging on the tree." He pointed from where he was in the lake.

Hermione and Cormac looked where Eric was pointing, then they looked at each other for a second and then they both took off at a run. Hermione was closer to the point where Eric's towel was, but Cormac was a faster runner.

They both were laughing, and within a yard of the tree, Cormac overtook Hermione. He gingerly patted her on her back side as he blew passed her.

"Cormac, I need that towel," Hermione said as Cormac snatched the cloth off the low hanging branch that Eric rested it on to air dry.

"Well, I have it," Cormac said slowing to a walk as he held it up for Hermione to see. He was circling around the large tree.

"It's hot enough that you can dry off in the sun. Please let me have it," she put on an irresistible pout just as they circled out of site behind the tree.

"What are you going to do for me?" Cormac said with a quick raise of his eyebrows.

Hermione went to scoff at him, but he moved and took her by surprise. A squeal alerted him to her level of surprise.

Cormac had pounced in her direction. With incredible coordination and precision, Cormac had draped the top of Eric's towel over the crown of Hermione's head and pulled the edges down taut so that the towel framed her face. The blue towel made it seem like Hermione had a hood covering her.

"What are you going to do for me, Granger?" Cormac asked her again. He brought his face so close to hers that their noses were touching.

"I'll be very thankful," Hermione wanted it to sound sarcastic, but because of Cormac's closeness, it sounded dreamier.

"Yeah?" he didn't seem to be listening to what she was saying. His feet were moving toward Hermione.

She couldn't think of anything to say. Her brain was excited from Cormac's close proximity. She didn't even notice the smile she had on her face. Hermione's felt her stomach jump when her heels backed up against the tree.

She looked back unexpectedly to make sure that she didn't crash into the tree with the back of her head, but when she turned around Cormac was face to face with her. There was a momentary pause before he brought their faces together.

Cormac didn't take this slowly at all. The heat was getting to him, his blood was racing, Hermione was left half-topless and he needed immediate contact with her. Cormac dropped towel and took his hands to Hermione's waist. She felt cool and wet in contrast to the stifling heat.

Cormac crashed his head down against Hermione's and her head snapped back against the trunk of the tree. It didn't hurt, but Cormac's intentions were on display. Cormac snaked his left hand from her waist up against her back as slid his tongue against Hermione's lips. She had barely parted her mouth when Cormac forced his tongue into her mouth.

Hermione reached behind Cormac and gripped onto the muscles of his lower back as she twisted her head to the other side.

"Hermione?" Cormac whispered against her ear quickly.

She made a noise that affirmed that she heard him.

"Let's…" Cormac started, but was cut off.

"Where did you guys run off to with my towel?" Eric's voice was ten meters from where they were standing.

Hermione and Cormac immediately released each other. Hermione bent down and picked up the towel from the ground. She circled around the tree.

"Here it is, Eric," without waiting for his response she threw the unused towel to him.

"Cool, thanks," he turned around and jogged back to the edge of the lake, "Come on, everyone, let's head back to the cafeteria."

"Looks like it's time to go," Hermione stated to Cormac.

Cormac had a sultry look in his eyes.

Hermione was shaking her head side-to-side at him as she admired his form. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, but she pointed below his waist, "You might want to do something with that before we get back to the campers."

There was an obvious bulge forming in the front of Cormac's shorts. He looked down and to Hermione it looked like he was pleased with himself.

Again she rolled her eyes at him, "Just put that away."

Cormac adjusted himself and followed her back to the campers.

Fortunately for the pair of them, that wasn't the only time that things heated up between Cormac and Hermione. In the last period of the day, Hermione and Naomi had the idea of opening up the freezers rather than turning on the ovens. The counselors could sense that the campers were getting tired and hot. The creation of ice cream sundaes seemed like the perfect remedy.

Because there was really no prep time involved, the session was quick. The campers scooped out their ice cream, added their toppings and started to eat. Hermione and Naomi played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decided who would stay and clean the room and who would take the campers back to the cafeteria early. The winner would win twofold, because they wouldn't need to clean and they would get back a little bit of free time before the half hour before dinner.

The girls played and Naomi won twice in a row. She rounded up the campers forty minutes before the session was scheduled to end and led the way out of the kitchen. Most of the cleaning was done after five minutes. Hermione was wiping down some of the tables when the door opened.

"Thank god, Naomi," Hermione said scooping up some cookies and cream bits into her hand, "But I'm almost done."

A voice cooed in her ear, "Thank goodness." The voice sent shivers down her spine and strong hands squeezed on her waist.

Cormac brought his body up against Hermione's back. He pressed her so that the tops of her thighs were pressing against the workbench surface.

She made a sound that appeared to be disapproving and breathed out, "Cormac…" in a similar tone, but it didn't fool the teenagers.

Cormac twisted his head so that he could nuzzle against the spot behind Hermione's ear where her hairline stopped and started. Before when these types of kisses would tickle Hermione she would need to get used to the touches, but now when Cormac brought his lips on her it made her toes curl in delight.

Hermione let out her first involuntary groan of pleasure, and that was all that Cormac needed to hear. Cormac swept Hermione up and planted her on the workbench. She was left surprised, but by this point Cormac moved so deftly and quickly that she had grown to be taken by surprise by him.

Cormac took one of Hermione's cheeks in left hand and braced his weight against the workbench with the other. Hermione was grabbing at the front of Cormac's staff shirt. He was holding her cheek so delicately, yet so securely, while Hermione was gripping against the threads in front of her.

Without asking, Cormac reached out with his right hand and placed it on the small of Hermione's back. He pulled her closer toward him. He pulled her so close to him that she was now barely on the workbench. Hermione wasn't in any danger of falling off the workbench because Cormac's body was pressed so tightly against her.

Cormac was standing between Hermione's opened legs and was as close to her as their clothes would allow. Had they not been wearing their camp appropriate outfits, their most intimate spots would be rubbing against one another. Based on how they were kissing and breathing, it looked like that was exactly what they desired.

Cormac moved his lips to the side of Hermione's neck and Hermione was sorry to lose the contact of him pressing against her. She couldn't voice her disappointment, because she couldn't seem to locate her vocal box. Hermione was beginning to feel hot. She felt her cheeks reddening, her breath was quickening and she could feel her forehead was starting to glisten.

She was going to attempt to wipe her brow so that Cormac wouldn't notice, but he came back to kissing her lips. In one move, he crashed his mouth on her and slipped his tongue against hers. Hermione happily allowed it.

Hermione's mouth gaped open for a moment as Cormac switched the niceties and went straight for what he was looking for. Cormac shifted his weight so that he could stand at an angle that allowed his hips to be replaced by a hand. While his hips had provided Hermione with a certain level of pressure on her pleasure points, Cormac's hand was able to deliver much better sensation's over the top of Hermione's shorts.

Hermione didn't slap his hand away. Instead, she egged him on as she kissed him with more fury. She used her tongue to search Cormac's mouth just as vigorously as he was. Cormac did his best to remain delicate and respectful, but his teenage hormones were making that difficult for him.

His mind understood that he was walking a tight line. He was aware that the wrong move would end everything. He was calculating his next move in his head and made a decision. Cormac pressed into Hermione and forced her onto her back. She was lying on the top of the workbench that she was just sitting on. Their bodies were apart for the briefest second. Cormac swiftly climbed on top of the surface making sure not to jostle into the young lady on the table.

Cormac dropped his lips onto Hermione's again, and this time, it was her tongue that snaked into his mouth. Understanding where Hermione stood on the situation, Cormac dived his hand up to Hermione's waistband. When at first he had worked meticulously toward her intimate core, Cormac went right for what he was aiming for. Hermione had no problem with this. She was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Cormac had a pair of his fingers on Hermione's most intimate nerves and was working at her expertly. As Cormac worked to bring pleasure to Hermione's most sensitive site, she started adjusting as the waves of pleasure rushed to her brain. As Hermione teetered to one side slightly, she felt how hot she was again. Rather than feeling like just her chest was getting hot, it felt like her entire body was overheating. Her shirt was sticking to her back, but she didn't want anything to change. She reached up with one hand and pulled Cormac's lips closer to her. She could feel what she was looking for just around the corner.

Her fingernails dug into the back of Cormac's neck. Under different circumstances, he would've slapped her hand away for almost breaking his skin, but under the current situation nothing felt better to him. He pulled his head up away from her for a second so that he could get the appropriate leverage he needed with his wrist. His fingers seemed to move impossibly fast.

Hermione's breathing seemed to be stuck to only intake breath. Cormac stopped working his arm as he started to feel a cramp coming on. Even though his arm stopped working, Hermione couldn't keep her body still for fifteen seconds as she came back down from what she realized she needed.

Hermione hadn't realized that she was arching her back. Once she was no longer a victim to her body's involuntary motions, she lowered herself flat on the surface.

"Yeah?" Cormac said still leaning halfway on top of her.

Hermione had a silly smile on her face. She was feeling in a playful mood after her climax, so her only response was a frivolous nod.

"Good," Cormac said climbing back on top of her to kiss her some more.

Cormac was only there for a fleeting moment, before Hermione turned the tables on him. Cormac was truthfully unaware of what Hermione had done, but he was on his back. He didn't have any time to admire Hermione's handiwork, because she had her hands on him. Unlike Cormac; however, she was working in a more thoughtout fashion.

Hermione was tugging at the front of Cormac's shirt again. Cormac was reaching up high on Hermione's back while she was on top of him. It didn't take long for Hermione to notice that he was doing the best he could to puppeteer Hermione's hands toward his groin through manipulating her back.

Hermione rolled her eyes through closed eyelids, but followed through once she realized that he wasn't going to stop until Hermione brought him his release. Like she had the one time before, Hermione started to press her palm against Cormac's apparent hardness over the top of his shorts. Once Cormac was aware of the "special" attention he was about to receive, he pressed up off of his back and moved his hips harder into Hermione's hand.

Cormac and Hermione continued to kiss, entwining their tongues together while Hermione slowly stroked Cormac. After an undetermined amount of time, Cormac couldn't wait any longer.

"Hermione…" Cormac almost sounded like he was whining.

"What?" Hermione said trying to take a seductive look at the boy. It wasn't a horrible disaster. Cormac appreciated the look, but what Hermione had in mind was a little different than the look that she was portraying.

"Hermione…" he repeated. He understood that he didn't need to say anything else. His tone was enough to let her understand that he needed a little more.

"You want this?" Hermione was trying her hardest to be sexy. She didn't know why she was feeling so feisty. Maybe it was the handsome and horny boy under her. Or maybe it was the building passion and chemistry the two of them had over the past few days. Or maybe it was the summer sun and heat wave was starting to fry Hermione's brain.

In response to her words, Hermione slid her hand between their bodies and grabbed onto what Cormac was hoping she would find.

"God, your hands are so soft," Cormac said in appreciation.

Hermione smiled for a moment before she went down to kiss Cormac. She found it difficult to kiss him passionately, and move her arm in a uniform direction at the same time, so she found that her kissing was becoming less than adequate, but Cormac could care less, because Hermione was focusing right where he wanted her to.

"Why don't you try your mouth?" Cormac did his best to sound encouraging as he said it.

Hermione stopped kissing him and moving her hand in the same moment. Not because she was offended, but because she was surprised. She thought for a millisecond and made a sound that was her response, and the sound let Cormac know that she was not interested.

"Ok," Cormac said, at least he had Hermione's hands on him, "Sorry."

Before his words were even out of his mouth, Hermione was back stroking him in full force with her hand.

Another thirty seconds passed, and Cormac's breathing was becoming shallower. He wanted to encourage her some more, "Keep going, Hermione."

Hermione had completely removed her lips from his and was pumping on Cormac's member.

"Put your mouth on it," Cormac had one last change.

Hermione thought for another fraction of a second and rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she huffed.

Still working her hand as fast as she was, she adjusted her weight lower down on Cormac and then in an instant several noises bellowed at the same time.

The door to the kitchen opened slowly and someone let out a surprised clamor. Hermione jumped off the cooking surface with an embarrassed shriek. And Cormac let out a disappointed and frustrated groan.

"YES!"

**A/N: ;)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

"YES!" Naomi said as she tried to put everything together.

"Get out of here, Clyne!" Cormac said more disappointed than ever.

"Why? I just got here," Naomi said as if she didn't know what Cormac was referring to.

"Naomi!" Hermione shrieked from the other side of the workstation that she had dismounted from. Hermione was standing huddled over herself as if she was trying to hide her presence.

"There's no need to cover up, Hermione. All of your clothes are on," Naomi pointed out to her, "But I wonder for how much longer."

Cormac had rolled over so he was standing up on the same side of the workstation as Naomi. He still had a "big problem" in his pants and was having a hard time concealing it. It was one thing for Hermione to witness it, but it was painfully awkward with Naomi around. Hermione's hand was just on it, and it seemed like she was preparing for more, but it wasn't appropriate for him to trounce around with his "situation" in Naomi's presence.

"Well, I came back here to help you with the cleanup, but it looks like you two only made this station dirtier," she gave both Hermione and Cormac knowing glances.

Hermione rolled her eyes while Cormac continued to hide his erection in the waistband of his shorts.

"Ok, well I'll let you guys finish up here," Cormac said once he was able to do his best resting himself up in the waistband.

"You're leaving?" Hermione questioned him.

Cormac gave her a sly look, "Yeah, I need to take a cold shower before I run into any of the kids. Unless Naomi wants to give us another minute or two." He raised his eyebrows in Naomi's direction. He just wanted to get a rise out of the girls.

"Get out of here," Hermione said with the widest smile.

"I'll see you guys in a bit," Cormac said as he headed for the door. He didn't know what the appropriate salutation for this situation was. Was he expected to hug Hermione? Was he supposed to kiss her? Instead, when he got to the door, he turned around, smiled at her and shot the quickest wink in her direction.

Once Cormac was out the door, Naomi crossed the room to Hermione.

"Tell me everything," she was staring deeply into Hermione's face.

"Nothing happened," Hermione justified that she wasn't 'lying' because Hermione was pretty certain that there was one thing that Naomi was truly wanting to hear.

"Nothing?" Naomi asked raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

:Nothing," Hermione verified.

"Well, fine," Naomi almost huffed out, "but it seems like things are going well again."

"Yeah, I guess so," Hermione responded. It was true that things with Cormac were doing much better than before, but things went well before but that came crashing down.

Hermione and Naomi chatted while they finished the little work to clean the Cooking session's kitchen. As soon as they were done, they were able to find their campers in the camp store along with a number of others from the volleyball clinic.

Cormac, Dayton and Wayne were huddled around one of the billiard tables. Hermione didn't approach, but she could hear their conversations.

Wayne was reaching up to drag his hand through Cormac's now wet hair. "What's this?"

"What? It was hot I needed a shower," Cormac said slapping his hand out of his hair.

"You leave volleyball early to go take a shower?" Dayton was questioning, "That doesn't sound like you."

"What is this? Twenty questions?" Cormac asked.

Hermione chuckled to herself. She enjoyed sneaking around with Cormac in the kitchen. It was exciting and it was sexy. She turned her attention to a few of her Lady Otters that were lounging on a nearby couch. Hermione bent over her waist to hang over the back of the seat so she could strike up a conversation.

"Hey there," Cormac's voice sounded just as a slightly loud smack sound echoed in the vicinity.

Cormac had approached behind Hermione and had brought his hand against her bottom a little harder than expected. Hermione's group of Lady Otters giggled and the clique that was following Cormac also was sniggering.

Hermione's face turned red immediately. She shot up from leaning over the couch and jabbed Cormac as hard as she could in the shoulder, "Cormac!"

"Sorry!" he was fighting back a laugh of his own. That only infuriated Hermione more.

She hit him again.

Cormac rubbed his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I meant to just pat you on the back."

Hermione was circling her head from her Lady Otters to Cormac to his posse, "Well you shouldn't be touching me there anyways! It's inappropriate for camp."

"For camp only?" Cormac voiced.

Hermione cocked her hand back to strike him a third time, but Cormac readied himself to defend himself. Hermione took a second to decide if it was a bad idea to try to strike him when he was prepared. Instead, she huffed off.

Hermione stormed out of the Camp Store a few minutes before the end of the final session of the day. She made her way to the cafeteria where there would be the closing words before the campers were turned lose for a little free time before dinner.

There was a good number of campers in the cafeteria already. Gary and Ross had brought back their group from the Woodshop. The counselors were encouraging everyone to hydrate while there was a little time before the Camp Director dismissed the day.

Hermione sat down at a free table and proceeded to fume about how embarrassing it was that Cormac had, more or less, spanked her in front of several campers, including some of her Lady Otters. She wasn't a piece of meat. She was a young woman.

As she sat there, things like "Unbelievable" or "The nerve" sputtered out of her mouth. If some of the campers and counselors didn't already know Hermione, it could've been understood that she was either suffering from a Tourette's episode, or she was just a crazy person. The heat was getting to her. She needed to remind herself that she needed to get a glass of water, before breaking out of the cafeteria.

The whole camp flooded into the cafeteria within two minutes. Once all the bodies were in the building it only got hotter. The large glass windows did a great job allowing natural light to fill the dining area, but it created a disastrous greenhouse effect during a heatwave.

From where Hermione was sitting phrases like, "I'm cooking alive", "It's hotter than Satan's You-Know-What" and "I'm wet in places I shouldn't be wet" could be heard as temperatures literally rose.

"Hey, Granger," Cormac said putting his hands on Hermione's shoulders. He didn't squeeze, he didn't put a lot of weigh on her, he was making sure to be careful with what he was doing, because he didn't want to upset her further.

Hermione shrugged him off of her, "Don't touch me." She snapped at him from a combination of being hot, but also at being annoyed at him.

"Come on, Hermione," Cormac pleaded with her as he quickly removed his hands from her.

"Don't talk to me," she said turning the metaphorical cold shoulder.

Cormac McLaggen didn't roll his eyes. That was something he left to the overdramatic bookworms of the world, but he really wanted to roll his eyes at Hermione.

Mr. Craig kept his comments brief and dismissed everyone after sixty seconds of words. Most people couldn't get out of the cafeteria fast enough. Even though the sun was baking the earth outside, there was a sense of relief once people stepped out of the furnace that was the cafeteria.

Hermione almost got swallowed by the escaping herd. She had promised herself to get a drink so that she wouldn't be so testy and hot. It was one thing for her to strike out at Cormac, but it was a slippery slope to let the heat get to her over Cormac and then a camper.

Hermione wasn't the only person that had the idea to stop by and rehydrate at the drink fountains. There were roughly ten people that had paper cups under the nozzles and drinking. Hermione waited patiently for her favorite lemon-lime drink to free up. It was the most popular at camp.

Hermione waited until it was her turn and she put the cup under the spigot and engaged the fountain's button.

"Good idea, Granger," Cormac cooed into her ear.

Hermione shot a dark look in his direction. His hot breath on her ear, which she normally enjoyed, annoyed her due to the added heat.

"Lighten up," Cormac said. He couldn't help but push her buttons. He was completely aware of his actions, and if he had a chance to rethink about his actions he would've behaved differently, but he reached out with the most delicate pat, he tapped her bottom again.

The next interaction went mostly unnoticed by everyone in the room.

Hermione spun around and cocked her hand back, "You fucking prat!"

The words were loud enough for anyone in the room to hear, but only Cormac's ears picked up her words. A startled expression came over his face for a second.

Hermione had smacked Ron, Harry and Cormac all before, but they were always directed at their shoulder or chest. She had never struck one of the boys in her life in the face – except for that one time with Draco Malfoy, but she didn't consider him human most of the time. She did her very best to make Cormac her real first.

As she twisted, she tried to throw her hand at Cormac's cheek. She noticed his surprised look, but he was too quick. Hermione's hand was on her way toward his face, but Cormac reached up with his left hand and caught her by the wrist.

Annoyed that he had halted her attempt to scold him and teach him a lesson about respect, Hermione raised her left hand to make sure that she would slap him.

As Hermione tried to thrust her free hand at him, Cormac caught it in the same fashion. Hermione looked down at Cormac's feet and thought maybe she could stomp on several of his toes. She decided that she would either crush them after she looked at him in the face.

Several things happened at once. When she looked in his face, Cormac's expression changed. He went from a look of surprise, to a look of mild terror, to something else. The last look that he was giving Hermione made her remember just how hot it was at Camp Craig. She could feel her chest heating up as well as her cheeks. Hermione forgot that she wanted to drive her heel into Cormac's foot. As a matter for fact, for a second she forgot her own name.

Now, people in the cafeteria were looking in their direction. It was a strange position that they were standing in. Hermione and Cormac were a foot away and Cormac was holding Hermione by both wrists. If there weren't over a dozen eyes on them, things may have unfolded differently.

Cormac was giving Hermione a fiery look and it left Hermione standing like a deer in the headlights.

Both their minds were racing. Cormac spoke first.

"We should go," it wasn't a suggestion.

Words escaped Hermione. She just nodded.

Cormac released one of Hermione's hands and dragged her by the other. The pair of them speed walked out of the cafeteria.

They didn't say a word or agree on where they were heading, it was just understood. They started by speed walking, but their pace only quickened. By the time that they were in the clearing to the cabins, Cormac and Hermione were running hand-in-hand.

They burst through Hermione's cabin doors and all the passion in Hermione's attempts to slap Cormac came back out. Cormac kicked the door closed behind them and didn't waste a single step. He grabbed Hermione at the waist. Hermione prepared for him to start kissing her, but she prepared for the wrong thing.

Before Hermione knew what was happening she was flung in the air. She landed on her side on her bed. The old wooden bedframe creaked with the force that Hermione landed with. Hermione's initial response was slight fear, but she couldn't help but let out one giggle.

She moved to roll off of her side onto her back, and as she readjusted herself, Cormac was crawling on top of her. Hermione had no complaints. Cormac had already forced Hermione's head back on her pillows. She was completely prone on her back while Cormac rested most of his lower half evenly on her.

Cormac's hip bone was even with Hermione's pelvic bone and from their waist down their legs entwined together. Cormac's hands rested on either side of Hermione's face for a second as he propped himself up after his first initial kiss.

His back was arched up with most of his weight through his hands. He was looking into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione had a slight mist of sweat on her forehead from the temperature outside, their brief run to the cabin, and Cormac's added body heat. He reached up with a free hand and brushed some strands of hair that were stuck to her skin out of her face.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked him.

Cormac seemed to be snapped out of his own thoughts, "What?" after processing what she had said, he went back down to kiss her. "Nothing," was what he said as their lips were pressed together.

Hermione reached up with her hands and pressed on Cormac's chest, "No, what's wrong? Do I have something on my face?" She involuntarily wiped at her cheeks.

"No, it's nothing," Cormac said trying to get back down to her lips.

Hermione did her best to remain strong. She would've lost the battle, but she wanted to be adamant, "Tell me."

"You're going to think that I'm full of shit," he said trying to fight her hands off of his body so he could return to his happy place on her lips.

She gave him an impatient look.

Cormac let out an annoyed huff, "Fine. I was just admiring," he paused before he continued, "How beautiful you look." Again, he was rested up on the palms of his hands looking down at her face.

Hermione squinted in his direction and tried to detect something in his eyes. The only things she could recognize were an undoubtable level of admiration and honesty. She removed her hands from his chest and looped them behind his neck. To avoid crashing heads together, Cormac had to quickly drop his weight onto his elbows, but now their bodies were pressed together from their lips to their toes.

As Hermione pulled Cormac down to him she shot her tongue into his mouth which he playfully accepted. Hermione left her hands wrapped around the teenage boy's neck while Cormac moved one hand to the side of Hermione's face and the other to the side of her waist. Cormac was kissing Hermione back with every ounce of passion he could muster. Hermione did exactly the same.

Their actions were heated and fanatical. Cormac was pulling at Hermione with a delicate strength. Hermione could sense that he was doing his best to remain delicate against her tiny frame, but she couldn't help but be reminded of his power.

Cormac held Hermione's cheek firmly in place, but his touch was as soft and honest as a child's. To start his hand on her side was caressing her tenderly, but as their kisses became harder and their bodies began to gyrate against each other more fervently, Cormac began to claw at Hermione's physique.

She audibly gasped due to his fingers several times, but Cormac was too driven to hear her. Hermione started finding relief from Cormac's rough play by partaking in her own. She started driving her nails into Cormac's neck. He craned his head upward for a moment to try to escape Hermione's scratching.

To retreat a little farther away from Hermione's grasp, Cormac drove his lips to the crook in Hermione's neck that was some of her softest skin. He placed hungry kisses along the spot where her neck met her shoulder and up toward her jawline and ear. Hermione took her hands from behind Cormac's neck to his perfectly messy hair. She took a fistful and pulled.

"Ah," it was the same kind of sound he would make when appreciating his drink at a Counselor Party.

"What?" Hermione asked almost out of breath from the sensations that he was delivering to her.

"You drive me fucking crazy," he told her before he dove back behind her ear. He playfully bit her earlobe and that sent a shocking sensation down her spine.

Hermione made a pleasurable sound as she curled her toes to keep the sensation from exploding out the end.

Without her notice, Cormac had worked both his hands to the hem of Hermione's shirt. As a duo, the two of them made quick work of the fabric in the way of their torsos and lifted all of her layers up and over Hermione's head.

Once Hermione's counselor shirt and sports bra were tossed against the nearest wall and slid to the floor, Cormac sat up and pulled his shirt up and over his head. The article of clothing joined Hermione's in the corner.

Cormac brought his chest down to Hermione's to kiss her briefly before he changed his attention. As Cormac slid his body lower on Hermione's, they couldn't help but notice the layer of sweat between the two of them. Cormac's lips found their way to one of Hermione's nipples. He took it between his lips and rotated between kissing, sucking and playfully, yet delicately, biting.

Hermione's back arched in enjoyment. Cormac's left hand was grasping at the soft flesh on the other mound on Hermione's chest. He was alternating between pinching the most sensitive spot and massaging the whole mass in his hand. In all honesty, Cormac had been with more well-endowed girls in his life, but Hermione was a pleasant handful for him.

A moan of pure bliss emitted from Hermione's lips. That sound was followed up with a moan that sounded similar to "Cormac."

"You enjoying yourself?" Cormac looked up from where he was and Hermione couldn't think that the boy could look sexier.

Hermione bit her lip and nodded up and down just as Cormac bit a little harder than normal.

"Ow," it wasn't a sharp exclamation of pain, but a playful reminder that she was still delicate.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. Let me make it up to you," he raised his eyebrows in her direction.

In a flash of movement, Cormac had removed himself from on top of Hermione and was down by her ankles. In his hands, he had Hermione's shorts. Before she had a say in the matter, they were down on the floor as well. Hermione's wasn't completely comfortable being this exposed, but she was up for maybe seeing where this would go.

When Cormac didn't hear any complaints from Hermione, he came back down on top of her. He replaced his lips to Hermione's sensitive spots on her chest and continued. As he continued where he left off, Hermione found herself biting her lip and arching her back again. She thought she could never be happier. But she thought wrong.

She felt Cormac's hand sliding higher and higher up her exposed thigh. This time she didn't have any hesitations. To show Cormac that she was completely ok with his touches, she took another fistful of his hair and pulled his lips to hers.

His immediate reaction was the same "Ow" that she had used, but once she forced her tongue into his mouth he knew that he had all the permission that he needed. With impressive dexterity, Cormac slid Hermione's delicate layers to the side and he kept them to the side with his thumb while the rest of his fingers focused on driving pleasure chemicals to Hermione's brain.

Cormac took his middle and ring fingers together and found the littlest bud on Hermione and moved in slow delicate circles. It teased her just as much as it teased him. Hermione's body responded by creating the desire for Hermione to rub her thighs together, but that would disallow Cormac access to where he was. For Cormac, he was feeling an apparent tightness building in his shorts.

Hermione could sense Cormac's excitement against her thigh and that turned her on even more. As Cormac worked his fingers against Hermione's most keen sense of nerves, Cormac buried his lips against the back of Hermione's ear and it wasn't long until the somewhat familiar sensation of her orgasm built up in her.

Cormac knew that Hermione was reaching her point of ecstasy when her breathing became shallower and he could feel her abdominal muscles contract against his shirtless skin. Hermione couldn't understand when her first orgasm stopped and when the second started. Without stopping his movements, Cormac continued pleasuring Hermione while she shot up and came back down.

Cormac continued this pattern for two or three more orgasms. He was going to do his best to keep the trend going, but Hermione physically removed his hands from between her legs.

"I need a break," Hermione was out of breath and could feel a fine film of sweat along her mostly nude body.

"Yeah? You need a break?" Cormac asked. He flopped onto his back and pull Hermione down on top of him.

Hermione giggled as he moved her so easily.

"I don't want a break," he whispered huskily against her lips.

Hermione was kneeling on top of his waist, and she could feel Cormac's hardness under her. She was bent over at her waist kissing the boy. Feeling him press under her turned her on, and she wanted to rock slowly against him.

"Hold on," Cormac said reaching down and working the waistband of his shorts halfway down his thigh. If he wanted to continue removing them with his hands, he would've needed to remove Hermione, and that was the last think he wanted to do. Instead, he worked his legs and feet to remove his athletic shorts. Now the pair of them was grinding together with only the slightest fabrics between them.

Hermione happily kissed Cormac while she rocked back and forth on top of him with her hips, but she noticed that Cormac was looking for a little more as he continued to drive his waist harder and harder into her.

Hermione wanted to roll her eyes at him, but she had to agree that fair was fair, so she removed herself from straddling him and she moved her hand against the fabric that was left on the teen boy. She went back to put her tongue in his mouth as she worked her hand up and down the outline of his shaft.

Cormac let out gasps of appreciation as Hermione slowly stroked him. The teasing sensation was incredible. This is exactly what he needed after their tryst was interrupted in the cooking building. He had taken a cold shower, but that wasn't nearly as great as a beautiful brunette taking care of his carnal needs. He was appreciative of what Hermione was doing, but he greedily wanted more.

"Here take these off," Cormac said against Hermione's lips. Before she could assist in taking his last layer of clothing off, he had already kicked them halfway down his shins. Hermione had very little work to do.

She barely had a moment to admire the first fully naked boy she had ever seen, and she was not disappointed. She did her best to capture a mental snapshot before Cormac pulled her back down to him.

Hermione returned her palm to Cormac's hard flesh and took a full grasp of him. Slowly and methodically, she moved her hand in a simple manner.

Cormac couldn't be happier with his situation. He had dreamt about this moment for weeks now. The fantasy of having Hermione naked on top of him with her hands all over his body haunted most of his late night thoughts, but now it was happening. Of course in all of his late evening fantasies, the activities went a little farther.

"Hermione?" Cormac breathed into the empty cabin.

"Yeah?" she cooed against their kisses.

"Put your mouth on it," Cormac suggested to her.

She stopped kissing him, and stopped the motion of her hand. Hermione pulled away from him and looked him in the face.

Before she had an opportunity to think too much, Cormac made a last ditch effort, "Please?"

Hermione took a deep breath, rolled her eyes and shifted her weight. Cormac's eyes grew wide as the Gryffindor princess seemed to acquiesce his request.

Hermione had never been in this position before, but she thought it was a fairly simple concept. Do the same thing she was doing, but slightly differently.

Hermione sank down on her knees and bent at the waist. She took Cormac in her hand and looked at his length in her hand. At this angle it seemed much larger than she thought.

Cormac didn't want to scare her off, but he was horny with anticipation. He couldn't help but speak, "Lick the head."

Hermione didn't shoot him a dirty look. Instead, she allowed her tongue to jut out sheepishly. She was a little scared and intimidated to start, but she wanted to make Cormac feel good like he had just done for her, repeatedly. With the first touch of her tongue, half of her fears were wiped away. It wasn't as repulsive as Hermione had heard several of the older girls in school talk about. Granted, Cormac had just showered, but so far it wasn't horrible.

Hermione looked up into Cormac's face to see if there would be any indicator that she was doing a good job. The combination of his lower head in her mouth and her sultry eyes looking back at him had Cormac overjoyed. That joyous feeling was etched on his smirk. Hermione took that as a positive and that helped her press forward.

Hermione found the experience somewhat entertaining. The texture of his member, from the soft smooth head to the rougher flesh of his shaft was interesting. The slightest motion of her tongue would have Cormac's entire body reacting with sudden jerks and arches of pleasure. The more that she tried the more his throat let out low moans.

Hermione felt like she was doing a good job and that turned her on even more.

She moved on from just the head and started working kisses along both sides of his length and Cormac seemed to enjoy himself.

"That's so good, Hermione," Cormac moaned out.

"Thank you," she said pleased with herself.

"Take more in your mouth," he pleaded. His hand pushed down on the back of her head gently in the direction that he wanted.

Hermione's lips parted as the head slipped past. The shaft parted her lips more and more as he helped push more into her mouth. Hermione found a depth that she felt she was comfortable and resisted as Cormac tried to push her farther down. Honestly, it wasn't very far at all, but Cormac wasn't going to complain. Hermione did as she thought she was supposed to do. She began to suck up and down in a bobbing motion in Cormac's lap. The skill seemed to come innately to Hermione.

Hermione wasn't proud of the slurping sounds that were coming from her mouth, so she pulled her head up and did her best to compose herself.

"What's wrong? You were doing great," Cormac said with a sense of fear in his voice. He didn't want to get all worked up again and need another cold shower.

Hermione was titillated by the way that Cormac seemed to be looking at her.

"Nothing," Hermione seemed to flip her hair onto one of her shoulders and returned back to where she was.

Working in a combination of her hand and her mouth, it wasn't long until Hermione could sense what was coming. Cormac reached down to Hermione's hair and took a gentle fistful. His eyes closed and his thighs tightened more frequently.

"I'm close, Hermione," he warned her.

Hermione made a muffled affirmative sound.

"Swallow it," he instructed her.

This time Hermione made a negative sound.

"Here it comes," Cormac said with one last hurried breath.

Hermione pulled her lips off of him and continued with her hand.

Cormac proceeded to make a mess on his lower abdomen. A few hot threads shot out of his body. Once he had calmed down, he gave out an exhausted sigh. Hermione was still kneeing on her knees in front of him.

He couldn't imagine her looking cuter, "Come over here." He patted a space on the bed next to him.

Hermione obeyed.

With the last bit of energy he had for the moment, he pulled her down and kissed her lips, "That was great."

Hermione bit her lip feeling shy. "Thank you." She repeated from before.

"No. Thank you," Cormac looked tired, "Can you help me with this?" he motioned his hands to the situation on his lower stomach.

"Yeah," feeling perky, Hermione jumped to her feet and retrieved a good amount of toilet tissue. She handed it to Cormac and he cleaned the mess. With the tissue in his hand, he stood up and deposited it in a rubbish bin in the bathroom.

When he came back to the room, Hermione was still waiting on her knees. "Ready for round two?" he breathed into her ear.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked him. She was genuinely curious.

Cormac crawled onto the bed and started kissing her on the shoulder and up her neck, "I don't know. We can start here and see where it gets us."

Hermione craned her neck and allowed the boy to continue kissing her, "I don't know what that means, Cormac." She was biting her lip.

"What would you let me get away with, Granger?" he bit her earlobe again.

"I don't know yet," she confessed.

Cormac gave her a knowing look.

Hermione met the look with one of her own.

Smiles started to creep across both their faces.

They were startled out of their own slice of heaven when a knock on Hermione's door echoed in the cabin and the door started to swing open.

Hermione dove under the covers. Cormac flew off the bed and did his best to hide behind the door.

"Hermione?" it was a young voice.

"Don't come in!" Hermione shouted as quickly and loudly as she could.

The door stopped opening and sealed again. The voice on the other side of the door continued, "Hermione, it's dinner. We didn't know if you were coming to get us, or if we were allowed to go by ourselves."

Both Hermione and Cormac's eyes flashed to the clock on her night stand.

"Fuck," they both mouthed at each other. The clock showed them that the dinner period had started 5 minutes ago.

"Go back to the cabin. I just need to get dressed," Hermione caught herself in what she just said, "I just got out of the shower," she lied to for a cover story. She finished, "I will pick you guys up in the cabin."

"Ok. Thanks, Hermione." The sound of preteen footsteps could be heard down Hermione's porch.

"Oh, that was close," Cormac said with a large grin on his face. He was putting his clothes back on. Hermione was sad to see his perfect body covered up, but obviously it was necessary.

"I lost track of time," Hermione confessed as she worked to put her clothes back on.

"Ok, you go get your Lady Otters and I will go get my Hares," Cormac said stomping into his shoes.

"I'll see you in a bit," he kissed the top of her head and started heading for the door.

Hermione stood shyly, "Cormac…" she called out and he halted. He looked back at her, but she couldn't think of what she wanted to say to him.

He came back to her and kissed her forehead, "I think I feel the same way."

She smiled. He mimicked her, headed for the door, and was gone.

Hermione felt so light. She was almost certain she could conquer that one spell she could never fully grasp. She was so sure she could do it, because she couldn't think of a happier time in her life that that moment.

**A/N: There's some more for you. Don't worry the big dance is coming!**

**jrb2009**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Hope everyone has been enjoying some of the smut. I'm currently writing some more "serious" smut. So please continue to enjoy.**

**Chapter 31**

Hermione was trying to tame her hair when she picked up the Lady Otters. As she opened the cabin door, her group of hungry campers was already standing by the door.

"I'm so sorry, everyone," Hermione panted as she finally came to a halt, "Are we ready?" Just as Hermione was leading the Lady otters out to the cafeteria, Cormac and the Hares were stepping out of their cabin a little ways ahead in the clearing.

Dayton was giving Cormac a hard time for being late.

"You always tell me how important it is to be on time," Dayton was reminding Cormac directly at his side.

Cormac hated being proven wrong, and Hermione knew that, but he seemed to be in far too good of a mood to allow the thirteen year old to ruffle his feathers. Cormac caught Hermione's eye and winked in her direction. Normally, he was quick enough to get away with his wink so that only the intended recipient would notice. But Dayton noticed.

Dayton loved pushing buttons just as much as Cormac enjoyed it and when he didn't get the reaction he wanted he tried to catch what was wrong with the counselor. He caught Cormac's flash of his right eye and followed the direction that it was intended.

"Oh, you aren't even listening to me because of your girlfriend," Dayton said loud enough so that everyone could hear.

Purely out of habit, Cormac brought his hand back and punched Dayton hard in the shoulder. Dayton howled in pain for a moment and tried to rub some of the feeling back in his arm.

As Cormac went through with punching his favorite camper, he started to make his usual point, "She's not my…" Hermione was looking in Cormac's direction with a little curiosity in her eyes.

Cormac noticed her look and looked back down at Dayton who was still rubbing his shoulder, "Shut up." He draped an arm around Dayton's neck.

Cormac's Hares slowed down their pace so that Hermione and her Lady Otters could catch up and mingle with the other campers. Naturally, campers of the same age gravitated together. Hermione and Cormac were no different.

"Hello, Ms. Granger," Cormac said bumping his shoulder into Hermione's delicately.

"Mr. McLaggen," Hermione said turning her head in a flirtatious manner.

Cormac was out of words at this point. He only had a large grin across his face.

Hermione took the opportunity to pipe up, "So no comment about the girlfriend comment?" She didn't really want an answer, nor did she expect Cormac to call her his girlfriend, but she enjoyed watching him get razzled with Dayton.

Hermione expected Cormac to drop his smile immediately, but it only spread wider across his face. "I will hit you." He threatened. His threat was moot since he was smiling too hard.

"You wouldn't dare," Hermione said testily at him.

"You're right," he just playfully bumped into her hip again.

They locked their eyes for a second as they approached Lower Bridge. Hermione saw Cormac in a different light now. He almost looked like someone completely different. He was still handsome and charming, but somehow he appeared more real rather than what had been fabricated in her mind. Perhaps it's because she knew him better now, or because she knew that he was just as human as the rest of the other counselors, or maybe because the connection they had together. But something in the way his eyes looked at her was different.

Cormac was staring into Hermione's eyes just like she was at him and she appeared to have a halo behind her where the setting sun was falling. For the first time in Cormac's recent memory, he tripped. He was so taken away by Hermione's beauty that for the slightest of a moment, he lost control of his left foot. He stubbed his sneaker against the bridge and fell forward.

Cormac caught some of his weight on the handrail of the bridge. The rest of his weight was supported by the camper walking in front of him.

Dayton Ward was currently doing his best to flirt with one of Hermione's cuter Lady Otters. He hadn't completely worked out the finer points of smooth talking yet, and was really struggling to give off the confidence that he was trying to emit. He was already nervous enough. Cormac's left hand sprung on Dayton's left shoulder to support him from tumbling to the ground.

Dayton had to work quickly to keep from tripping all the way to the floor. Cormac's sudden use of the teen as a crutch brought Dayton forward, but he was able to balance both of them. Neither of the boys fell to the floor, but for a second they both lost their cool, nonchalant, airs.

Cormac apologized once to Dayton, and was turning red. Tripping over the bridge was normally Hermione's move. She had never seen him look so flustered.

Cormac couldn't believe that Hermione Granger had caused his, metaphorical, knees to go weak. His cheeks were flooding to a slight rose color. Hermione did her best to cover her mouth as she giggled. She couldn't help but receive the feeling that Cormac's trip was somehow her doing.

Dayton needed to catch himself with his left hand on the floor to keep from crumpling to the ground. Feeling even more embarrassed in front of Hermione's cutest camper, he got defensive.

"What the fuck, Cormac!" he said also turning red. The Lady Otter's eyes got wide at Dayton's boldness.

"Hey!" Cormac smacked Dayton in the back of the head, "Watch your mouth."

Hermione mimicked Cormac's actions, but aimed her blow at the counselor, "Don't hit him."

"He deserved it," Cormac said flinching away from Hermione, expecting a second attempt at a strike.

"You taught me that word," Dayton said looking back from Cormac to Hermione. He wanted to make sure he was safe under Hermione's wing.

"That doesn't mean you get to use it whenever you want," Cormac pointed out.

"Enough," Hermione said. The rest of the group had stopped talking and were now staring at the interaction, "Cormac, apologize."

"He knows I didn't mean anything by it," Cormac pointed out to Hermione.

She just looked sternly at him.

Now, he rolled his eyes. "Sorry, mate," Cormac extended a hand in Dayton's direction.

Dayton accepted Cormac's hand and they completed a short secret handshake.

Dayton brought his attention back to Hermione's Lady Otter who seemed very interested in the spot on Dayton's head that Cormac slapped. He had a smile on his face as the girl seemed genuinely concerned for him.

Cormac turned his attention back to Hermione and he made an ugly face in her direction. He was playfully pretending to be annoyed with her. She copied him and made an equally as unpleasant mug in his direction.

"Why weren't we ever friends before?" Cormac didn't mean for those words to escape his lips.

"I don't know," Hermione said truthfully. She had a large smirk on her face.

By the time they got to the cafeteria, they were almost fifteen minutes late. The line was short, but all the remaining seats were spread out. Hermione was sad when there wasn't any room for her to sit with Cormac. There was an opening at one of the tables for three or four people and Hermione was dragged there by a few of her younger Lady Otters. Cormac crossed the room to sit with the coolest table of counselors who had no problem squeezing together to make room for Cormac.

The cafeteria was heating up again as the sun shone through the large windows. By the end of the meal most people were sweating due to the heat and close proximity of everyone. When Mrs. Craig dismissed everyone for the second session of free time, everyone couldn't wait to escape.

At the conclusion of the meal, the sun was still up. It wasn't as hot as the building, but it was still uncharacteristically hot for the region.

"Ugh, when is this weather going to pass?" someone asked rhetorically as the herd was exiting the dining hall.

"I heard it's going to move on in a day or two," the counselor to the Ducks was saying.

"I'm sick of it being so hot," another camper was complaining.

Hermione continued her way to the Infirmary. Yes her camp job was pretty uneventful, but the building had a window air conditioning unit and she had the PC monitor to keep her entertained. Hermione bade goodbye to the group that she was walking with, while her girls turned to enter the Camp Store.

Hermione continued to the Infirmary. Naturally, she went to turn the knob and expected it to be locked, but when the knob twisted and the door opened, she pushed it opened the rest of the way. Mr. Craig was in the corner of the room addressing the AC unit. He was knelt down. One of the grills to the contraption was on the floor and Mr. Craig had a flashlight shining on the inside of the machine. Hermione's mind flashed to Mr. Weasley. The slightly balding man would've been beside himself to watch an air conditioning unit being deconstructed.

Hermione closed the door and that was the first that Mr. Craig had heard from her.

He turned his attention to her direction, "Hey, Hermione. Mrs. Craig was complaining about the AC unit not working."

That came as a major blow to Hermione. Something about the construction or location of the Infirmary turned it into a sauna without the air conditioner.

"That's ok," Hermione lied, "do you know when it will get fixed?"

"Well, I just started looking at it, but I think I know the problem," that gave Hermione hope, "I'll be able to order the parts that I need tomorrow morning, since the supplier is closed already, and we should be able to have the pieces before the weekend."

_But that's over three days_, she could hear her brain complaining. She must've had a somewhat disgusted face, because Mr. Craig spoke.

"Is that ok?" he asked her standing up and brushing his knees off.

Hermione couldn't do anything about it so she said, "Yeah, that's fine."

"Ok, well. I will leave you to it," he said picking up his red tool box. He waved one last time before he closed the door behind him.

Once the door was closed and she was left alone, the full heat in the room hit her. She could almost feel the beads of sweat escaping through her pores. She did her best to distract herself by allowing the PC to steal her attention. Unfortunately, only so many games of Solitaire could distract the Gryffindor bookworm.

She let out a loud huff as the heat began to get to her. Her staff shirt was flecked with sweat. Her shirt was sticking to her back. And several strands of her hair were plastered to her forehead.

Hermione grabbed at the front of her shirt and tried to expel some of the heat while also fanning herself. She didn't even feel a difference. She thought about taking the one-time-use ice packs that the Infirmary had. She was tempted to use all of them and lay among the tiny white bags, but she realized that would be terribly wasteful.

The sun was almost all the way down after she had shaken the idea of bathing in ice bags out of her head. She headed to the window and put her head outside. There was the slightest breeze. She closed her eyes and allowed the wind to kiss her face.

"Enjoying yourself?" a voice from below called.

Hermione opened her eyes and Wayne was walking with a camper.

"What's wrong?" Hermione called out the window as the pair outside circled around the building toward the front door. Hermione left her post and opened the door for them.

"Hermione, this is Marshall Garza. He is one of my Squirrels," Wayne said.

The little boy was holding his stomach, "Here, Marshall, why don't you sit down." She motioned to the examining table.

Marshall couldn't be older than seven-years old. As he walked toward the table, Wayne picked him up under the arms and assisted him up to the table.

"So what's wrong?" Hermione asked walking over to him.

"My tummy hurts," he said still holding himself.

"What kind of hurt is it?" Hermione asked in her most cheerful attempt.

"I don't know. It hurts right here," he pointed to the direct center of his stomach.

"Ok, well that's good," she could rule out that it wasn't his appendix, she assumed, "Did you bump into anything, or eat anything that you normally don't eat?" She asked next.

"No," the little Squirrel thought a little harder, "I don't think so."

Hermione thought hard. "Marshall, is this your first time away from home?"

"I've gone to sleep overs before," he told her.

"Have you ever been away from home for more than three days before?" Hermione asked him.

"I don't think so," he explained to her.

"Marshall," Hermione got really close to him so that she could whisper, "have you gone to the bathroom since you've been at camp?"

The little boy shook his head.

"Marshall, you haven't gone to the bathroom?!" Wayne sounded amazed.

The boy looked embarrassed at Wayne's words.

Hermione stomped on Wayne's foot.

"Sorry," Wayne apologized, getting Hermione's message, "Why not?"

"My mum says that I get potty shy," he turned slightly red.

"Do you want to try and use the bathroom right here?" Hermione pointed around the corner, "It's very private. If you don't use it we may need your parents to come get you. And we don't want that."

"Yeah, I can try that," Marshall said standing up. He hunched over slightly at the waist as he made his way to the bathroom. The door closed and the lock clicked.

"Kids? Right?" Wayne said sitting down on the examination bench.

"I know," Hermione folded her arms across her body and shook her head.

"So what's new, Hermione?" Wayne asked. He pulled on the front of his shirt like Hermione had earlier in the night, "It's hot in here."

"I know. The air conditioner is broken," she informed him, but then got back to Wayne's original question, "Nothing's new really. Things are good. This summer has been great so far."

"Nothing new at all?" Wayne asked. He had a look on his face that seemed like he knew more than Hermione was letting on.

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing." Wayne said.

"Oh god! What did Cormac say?!" she jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Nothing really," he put his hands up defensively, "Wait why are you getting all worked up?"

"Nevermind that. What did Cormac say?!" Hermione was glaring at Wayne. She wanted to try to intimidate him to tell her what she wanted. Her greatest fear was that he was going around camp claiming Hermione as some great trophy.

"I told you, he hasn't said anything really. He was just talking about you just now," Wayne pointed over his shoulder toward the wall -the wall that was between where they were sitting and the camp store.

"Oh," Hermione felt silly for her reaction.

"He was just saying that he was enjoying all the time he got to spend with you," Wayne said flatly.

Hermione had a hard time believing that Cormac was actually saying that, "In those exact words?"

"Obviously not. Have you met him? But the message was that he was enjoying his time with you," he explained.

Hermione tried her hardest to keep a smile from creeping across her face, but she couldn't hide her teeth behind her lips. Wayne noticed.

"And you feel the same way?" Wayne asked. He was smiling now too. Hermione's innocent grin had a contagious effect.

"I swear to god, don't you say anything to him," Hermione threatened, "I don't know what we would all do if his ego gets any bigger."

"So you do?" Wayne looked at her with interrogating eyes.

"Shut up," Hermione said being forced to look away from his accusational stare.

The toilet in the bathroom flushed, the sink ran and the door unlocked. Marshall stepped out of the bathroom with a look of delight on his face. He had his hands held in front of him to drip dry. He had taken one of the towels, but his hands were still eighty percent wet, and his shirt was flecked with water from the sink.

"How do you feel, buddy?" Wayne asked stepping toward the boy.

"A lot better," Marshall said with a smile, "Thanks, Hermione."

"You're welcome, Sweetie," she said as the pair of boys as they headed to the door. She wanted to remind Wayne, "Remember don't say anything, or we all will suffer the consequences of Cormac's ego."

Wayne smiled and waved as he closed the door behind him.

Hermione sat down in the computer chair and went back to playing Solitaire for the remaining ten minutes left in the period. When she sat down she was disgusted to feel how sweaty her back was. She was fine when Wayne and Marshall were in the room to help distract her from the heat, but now that she was alone she was uncomfortably hot again.

After her ten minute purgatory, Hermione locked up and headed back to the Lady Otters' cabin and checked in on her girls. Her campers had brushed their teeth and were already in their pajamas. The hot days had worn the campers out and they had no energy to run around the cabin or stay up late. The prospect of sleep was too tantalizing for them.

Hermione and the rest of the counselors headed over to the amphitheater. The counselors were working in the same heat and were enjoying the same grueling activities as the campers, but now that they were in their third week of camp their stamina was built up. Mr. Craig shared some encouraging words with his troops and dismissed them.

Gary and Nicky headed to the Head Counselors' cabins, several others went to the camp store to play a few table games as well as have a "complementary" snack, another group headed to the fire pit to wait for the last check on the campers, and a select few were being coaxed by Eric for a quick session in the lake.

"Come on, the campers will all be asleep. We don't need to check on them," he was trying to persuade a pair of girls.

"Well what are other people doing?" one of them asked him. She didn't want to get in trouble for skiving out of her responsibilities, but if everyone else was doing it, then what was the harm?

"Who else is in?" Eric asked the remainder of the group at large. There were positive takers and some people that didn't think spending the evening in the dark lake water would be a valuable use of their time.

About half a dozen counselors had allowed Eric to convince them that the time in the lake could be fun. But that wasn't enough people to create a real rebellious vibe. Eric needed to recruit one or two more to join.

"What about you, Cormac?" Eric asked his new reliable buddy.

Cormac had remained noticeably quiet during the whole debate.

"No, I'm fine," Cormac was also noticeably short with his response.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Eric questioned him.

"I think I'm just going to lay low for the night," Cormac said dismissing his friend's question.

"Really?" a few people responded.

Cormac apparently didn't hear them because he didn't respond.

"What about you, Hermione?" Eric asked.

Hermione didn't know what to say.

"I bet if you come, Cormac will too," Eric raised his eyes in Hermione's direction.

Hermione didn't notice that Eric was giving her any kind of look, because her eyes shot immediately to Cormac's for a quick interpretation on what his face did.

Was Eric correct in assuming that? Probably, but Hermione worried that it was out of line for him to make that in front of everyone. It made Hermione's ears pinken, but she was horrified to see Cormac's reaction.

Hermione wasn't the only person that looked in Cormac's direction. Granted , she moved for just a quick glance, but everyone else almost gawked in his direction.

"Eh, probably," Cormac shrugged his shoulders coolly.

Hermione's eyes could've popped out of her head at his words. She did not expect that at all. She assumed that Cormac, per his nature, would've wound his fist up and given Eric a dead arm and then turn on the rest of the group. Never in a million years did Hermione believe that Cormac would come to terms with that kind of association with Hermione let alone own it.

"What?" Cormac said as everyone continued to stare at Camp Craig's Golden Boy and once-great-player.

**A/N: Hey guys let me know what you think of this chapter, but like I said, I'm currently writing some smutty scenes so feel free to tell me what you think you would like to see in two or three chapters.**

**jrb2009**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Happy Friday, everyone.**

**Chapter 32**

"Are you going to stare all night?" Cormac asked the group at large.

"Yeah, sorry," Eric said gaining everyone's attention again, "I mean no. Sorry." Everyone had come to a halt outside the amphitheater. Eric started moving his feet in the direction of Lower Bridge and the majority followed.

Hermione seemed to be planted on the spot. She was fixed in surprise to Cormac's response. The group was fifteen meters ahead of them, before either of them spoke.

"Are you ok, Granger?" Cormac said trying to wave a hand in front of Hermione's eyes, as if she were motion sensitive.

"You surprise me sometimes," Hermione said once she had been snapped back to where she was.

"You think?" he asked her. He had a glare of something in his eye.

"What are you getting at?" Hermione questioned him.

"Do you trust me?" he extended his hand in her direction.

Hermione didn't know why it felt this way, but she had the sense that if she took his hand, she would be forced to follow through with whatever he had planned. She was hesitant to give him that much power.

"Like?" she had a leading pause for him to fill in words to her question.

"Just do you trust me?" he brought his attention back down to his outstretched hand.

Something about the way that he said those words made Hermione know that she did trust him. She took his hand.

"Quick. Before anyone sees us," Cormac said peeling away from the spot.

Rather than heading in the direction of Lower Bridge behind the other counselors, Cormac led Hermione toward the Gatehouse. Rather than entering the building, he circled the outside of the building, still holding Hermione's hand.

"Cormac, what are we doing?" Hermione hushed. She didn't know what they were doing, but based on how Cormac was moving and the general secretive aire he had about himself, she knew that she needed to whisper.

"We are going for a drive," Cormac said once they were outside the Camp Craig truck.

"Are we allowed to take the vehicles whenever we want?" Hermione knew the answer. There was a section in the rulebook that outlined when it was acceptable to use the vehicles outside of camp-specific activities.

"Kind of," Cormac said opening the driver side door and sliding in. Hermione was waiting outside.

"What do you mean 'Kind of'?" she asked.

"Well, if Mr. and Mrs. Craig knew that we were taking it, they wouldn't be very happy," he continued quickly, "I don't think they would be terribly mad, but I think this is just an example where it would be easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission."

Hermione was never one for breaking the rules, but an occupational hazard of being best friends with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had seen Hermione cross the line once or twice. She would often resist at first, but if the need seemed to outweigh the consequences she could be coaxed.

"How long will we be gone?" Hermione asked with her hands crossed across her chest.

"What time do you want to be back?" Cormac answered her question with another question.

"Midnight," Hermione told him. She looked down at her watch and it was quarter passed ten.

"Midnight is perfect," Cormac responded.

"Have you ever done this before?" Hermione wanted to calculate what their odds of getting caught were.

"Do you want the truth?" he asked her as he reached up into the truck's visor. The spare key fell into his lap.

"Of course."

"Yes, I've taken the truck before," Cormac wanted to see what Hermione's response was.

"Have you ever been caught?" she had the analytical part of her brain working.

"Not yet. But every second that you keep standing there, the more likely we get caught," his point wasn't exactly accurate, but he was getting antsy.

"Fine." Hermione opened the passenger side door and slid in. She didn't see, but Cormac gave himself a victory fist pump in his lap.

"Ok. Buckle up," he said as the truck roared to life. The ancient vehicle was not like the newer electric golf carts.

Cormac left the lights off, but followed the solar lights that lined the traffic circle. Once they were at the end of the solar lights, Cormac turned on the headlights. The pair sat in silence for a minute or two until Cormac spoke.

As he spoke, he rolled his window down manually and leaned his elbow out the side, "You can turn the radio on," he said motioning briefly toward the different buttons and knobs.

This seemed like a lot of responsibility to Hermione. Whatever radio station she decided on could set the tone for the rest of the drive, no matter how long it was. If Hermione turned on something too mainstream, would she seem like just another girl? Would that be too boring for the all-hip and cool Cormac? If she found something too underground or off the normal beaten path, would she be labelled too different to Cormac? Would he think that she was weird?

Hermione turned on the electrical device and the music came out of the ancient speakers with all the force they could muster. Even though they had aged, the music came out at full force. Hermione quickly snapped her finger down to the dial to save her ears from the volume. Hermione had decided it would appear best for her if she pretended not to care about the music. She left the station on whatever the last driver had left on. It was a local station that played the top hits of the day.

Hermione peeked out of the corner of her eye to see if she had selected an acceptable station, or if Cormac was lining up a flurry of jokes at Hermione's choice. But she was surprised when she saw him. He was quietly mouthing the words to a girl-empowerment song. He was drumming away on the steering wheel with both hands as he bobbed his head and continued to lip-sing.

"Cormac McLaggen?" Hermione had a slight derisive tone in her voice.

Cormac didn't stop mouthing the words. He just turned his head briefly from the road to look at Hermione to acknowledge that he had heard her. He had no idea what she had called out to him for.

"This is your kind of music?" Hermione had to wait for his response because an impressive flurry of fast paced lyrics came on and Cormac couldn't be bothered to miss a single word.

"Am I not allowed to like this song?" Cormac asked once he needed to take in a breath.

"I didn't think you would be a fan of the Billboard Top 50," Hermione said realizing that Cormac was entitled to like whatever music he wanted.

Hermione didn't have any qualms with the music that was coming out of the radio, but she just expected something different.

Cormac went on to list off some of his other favorite bands. Again, Hermione didn't have an issue with any of the artists he was naming, but she felt the need to incessantly tease him. This was all good natured and Cormac couldn't help but smile as Hermione poked fun at him. He continued to sing the lyrics - this time out load. He tried to drown out Hermione's teasing with his powerful vocals.

Getting annoyed, but in a good-spirited way – Hermione tried to drown out his singing by covering his mouth. He did his best to avoid her hand covering his mouth by dodging his head around. Hermione's hand tried to chase his mouth. The result was Cormac bobbing and weaving in his seat, while Hermione tried to cup her palm over his mouth.

"Hermione, I can't see!" Cormac said in an excited voice. He jerked the steering wheel.

Hermione removed her hand from Cormac's vicinity and immediately gripped onto the seat for dear life and she gave out a small squeak.

Cormac laughed. Hermione smacked him.

"That wasn't funny, Cormac," Hermione said, looking out the windshield. She punched his arm again for good measure.

"Hermione, I will turn this truck around," Cormac said reaching up to massage the spot she had hit.

"You wouldn't dare," Hermione said making a silly face in his direction.

"Oh no?" Cormac asked contorting his face too.

"No, because you like me," Hermione put a little emphasis on the word "like".

"You think so?" Cormac raised his eyebrows in her direction. The way he said it made it sound like he was indifferent to her, but in the dim night light, Hermione could see that his smile was beaming.

"That's what Eric said," Hermione reminded him about earlier that night.

"No one said anything about liking you, Granger," Cormac pretended like he didn't remember.

Hermione smiled in the night. The two of them grinned.

"You never told me where we are going," Hermione pointed out to him, once her facial muscles gave her control of words again.

"It's not much farther. But it's a little secret," Cormac said ominously.

Hermione turned to look at him.

Cormac mirrored her movements and turned to look at her for a second, peeling his eyes from the road, "It's a nice surprise, I think."

Cormac was right. They didn't have much longer to drive. For the duration of their drive, everything was dark. There weren't houses, or hotels, or stores for as far as Hermione could see. Mostly the road was opened to what Hermione assumed were rolling fields and hills, but when the truck came just over the crest of one hill, there was a lone petrol station with an illuminating neon sign.

"That's it?" Hermione asked. It had to be. It was the only landmark that the pair had seen in their ten minute drive.

"Yes, it is," Cormac informed her, "But I don't like that tone! Don't judge a book by its cover. You should know all about that proverb, Hermione." Cormac pointed out.

Hermione stuck her tongue out at the boy as he pulled into a parking spot just in the front. With his foot still on the brake, Cormac reached over with his hand and pulled Hermione by the head toward him. Hermione put her tongue away before Cormac pecked her on the lips quickly. He put the truck in park, shut off the engine and unbuckled his seat belt.

Hermione followed him out of the truck and through the doors to the very small mart that was a part of the petrol station.

Cormac politely held the door for Hermione and she stepped in.

"Sorry, sweetie, but I'm about to close up for the night," an elderly woman with gray stringy hair said behind a counter. She looked to be going through her receipts for her petrol sales of the day.

"How about one last customer, Ms. Kirby?" Cormac said. He continued to push Hermione on her rear into the small mart. Hermione had halted in her tracks once she was told that the mart was going to be closing.

The woman's head shot up faster than Hermione thought would be possible for her apparent age. She reached up to put on her bifocals and look through the thick lensed half to see who was speaking to her.

"Cormac? I thought you had forgotten about me," Ms. Kirby said as she stood up from where she was standing. When she stood up she wasn't any taller than when she was sitting.

The old woman circled to the edge of the counter where she could exit. She extended her arms motioning Cormac to come give her a hug.

"I thought you had forgotten about me," Ms. Kirby said once she removed herself from her embrace with the boy.

"You know I could never do that, Ms. Kirby," Cormac said as charming as ever.

Ms. Kirby smiled at him. Then she turned her head and looked quizzically at Hermione. Hermione instinctively stiffened up as the woman gave her a once over. Hermione felt very self-conscious for a second. Was there a strand of hair out of place? Did she have a new zit? Was there something in her teeth?

"Ms. Kirby, I would like you to meet Hermione Granger," Cormac said formally introducing the two.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Kirby," Hermione said offering a small wave.

"It's a pleasure, dear," the woman said retreating back behind her counter. She moved slowly. She sat back down, "You know, Cormac, she's a pretty one."

Hermione smiled as the woman motioned a thumb in Hermione's direction.

Hermione was feeling cheeky so she said the first thing that came to her mind, "As opposed to all of Cormac's other girls?"

Ms. Kirby laughed so hard she almost feel out of her chair, "Oh and she's feisty. I like that." Ms. Kirby was clapping her hands until she came down from her laughing high.

"Ha-ha," Cormac said once she had calmed down.

"Ok, I'm seventy-seven years old and it's already past 10:30. So what will you have, Cormac?" Ms. Kirby asked him.

"You know why I come here," Cormac said.

"Yes, yes. My ice cream, but which flavor?" Ms. Kirby asked as if she was speaking to an idiot.

"Ice cream?" Hermione asked.

Ms. Kirby smiled.

"It's the best," Cormac said. He pointed in the direction of another corner of the tiny store and there looked like a freezer stocked with cartons of ice cream. Above the freezer there was a large chalk board with scratched on flavors.

There looked to be around sixteen different flavors. There were the run-of-the-mill flavors like chocolate, vanilla, rocky road and the like, but there were other flavors that Hermione felt were bizarre.

"Avocado? Cinnamon? Ginger? Beer?!" Hermione asked reading some of the flavor chart out loud.

"What's that face for?" Ms. Kirby said getting up and moving toward the freezers, "You don't know you're missing."

"She's right, Hermione. Last summer she had an incredible candied-bacon flavored ice cream," Cormac told her.

"I'm sorry? What?" Hermione could hold back her laugh.

"It was a pretty big seller," Ms. Kirby said reaching the freezer. She picked up an ice cream scoop that was waiting in a tub of clean water. She didn't seem tall enough to reach into the freezer to the containers inside.

"You'll see," Cormac told her as they walked closer.

"While you choose," Ms. Kirby was referring to Hermione, "Cormac, what do you want?"

"I think I will try the cardamom," Cormac pointed to a beige colored container.

Hermione wanted to scold Cormac for allowing a seventy-seven year old woman to scoop out his ice cream for him, because it didn't seem like Ms. Kirby had the strength in her old arms to do it, but Hermione would've eaten her words rather than the dairy treat she was about to have. With years of experience, Ms. Kirby's ice cream scoop cut through the frozen dessert like a hot knife through butter. Her speed and dexterity to drop the perfectly formed balls into a cup for Cormac left Hermione with her mouth agape.

"Two scoops for you," Ms. Kirby said putting a plastic spoon in a cup for Cormac.

Cormac thanked her as he received his treat.

"And what about you?" Ms. Kirby said cleaning off the ice cream scoop.

"I think I will try your Rocky Road," Hermione said looking into the freezer. She had never seen an ice cream that looked creamier or richer. In all honest, Hermione thought there wasn't a better looking flavor in the bunch.

"I KNEW YOU WOULD PICK SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Cormac said taking his spoon out of his mouth.

"What's wrong with Rocky Road?!" Hermione was surprised that Cormac could have anything bad to say about the classic flavor.

"You are so boring," Cormac told her flatly.

"You think I'm going to waste my money on something like avocado flavoured ice cream?" Hermione paused for a second, "No offense, Ms. Kirby. I'm sure it's great, but I don't think I will like it."

"How will you know if you don't try?" Ms. Kirby asked twirling her instrument in her hand.

Hermione couldn't be certain, but she thought that Ms. Kirby meant a little something more than what Hermione first thought.

"Here try this," Cormac said picking up a taste on his spoon and reaching it out toward Hermione.

Hermione felt awkward about Cormac feeding her, but she craned her neck out so that she could receive the flavor on her tongue.

"Oh my lord," Hermione said. She covered her mouth immediately and her eyes expanded to their limit. The slight taste that she had, immediately transported her to a foreign land, in either India or Indonesia or somewhere on that side of the world. The creaminess took her by surprise, but the flavor was unlike anything Hermione could ever expect.

"Right?" Cormac said returning the spoon to his cup to take another bite.

"Can I have that?" Hermione asked still covering her mouth and pointing at the same carton of ice cream.

"You're so boring!" Cormac exclaimed after he pulled his spoon out of his mouth again.

"Well, it's so good," Hermione justified.

"Be daring! Get something different," Cormac urged her.

Hermione huffed. She really wanted that cardamom ice cream, but she allowed Cormac to have his way.

"Ok, what flavor is that one?" she pointed to something that looked like it could've been a very, very dark chocolate.

"Licorice," Ms. Kirby told her.

"Oh, goodness no," Hermione made a horrible face.

Ms. Kirby caught Hermione's reaction and looked slightly offended.

"Oh, I bet it's wonderful," Hermione caught herself, "I just don't like licorice. What about this one?"

She pointed to a carton that contained a pale green. With Hermione's luck it could be anywhere from lemon-lime to asparagus.

"I call it 'Mint-Berry'," Ms. Kirby said.

Hermione was relieved. She peeked out of the corner of her eye to see Cormac's reaction, but he remained stone-faced. She thought it was safe enough that it would taste good, but it was also hopefully "different" enough that she wouldn't be hassled by the boy to her side.

Again, Ms. Kirby scooped out a cupful for Hermione. Cormac exchanged the necessary notes to pay for both his and Hermione's ice cream, even though Hermione couldn't believe it was the price that Ms. Kirby had charged him. She must've given him a generous discount.

"It was nice meeting you, Ms. Kirby," Hermione said as she waved to head out the mart.

"Likewise," Ms. Kirby said going about the final preparations to close the store for the evening.

Cormac circled to Hermione's side of the truck and held the door open for her as she slid in.

She thanked him and started to slip her seatbelt on. She was treated to a kiss on the cheek once she had snapped the buckle in place and proceeded to look forward.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked the handsome teen that was still standing leaning on the truck door.

"Absolutely nothing at all," Cormac said closing the truck door and moving to his door.

Cormac slid into the cab, started the engine and looked over his shoulder to back out of the parking spot he had acquired.

Now it was his turn to be surprised. Hermione held him by the cheek and brought her lips to his. When Hermione pulled away from him, he was delighted that he was still holding the brake down so that they didn't just drive out to the deserted road.

Cormac thoroughly enjoyed that, but the only words he spoke were, "That is definitely Mint-Berry."

Hermione rolled her eyes and allowed him to back the truck out.

Again Cormac rolled his window down and placed his arm out in the night air. It was still unseasonably warm but very pleasant.

"So where to now?" Hermione asked as she took another scoop from her ice cream.

"You will see," Cormac said mimicking her. He had his spoon skewered in his cup that was resting between his thighs. He took his hand that was exposed to the night air and took a spoonful.

Trying to be slick, Hermione quickly reached out and took a scoop of Cormac's ice cream. He had successfully scooped into Cormac's dairy treat, but she didn't get the chance to return her hand to her mouth.

In a whirl, Cormac transferred his hand from outside to the steering wheel, and his steering wheel hand caught Hermione by the wrist.

"Not so fast, Granger," Cormac said without taking his eyes off the road.

"What? I just wanted a bite," Hermione tried to sound innocent.

"If you're going to put your hand down there, you better do more than just steal my ice cream," Cormac had a sly grin on his face.

Hermione used her free hand and punched Cormac in the arm. She hit him right in the sweet spot. He lost feeling up and down his limb.

"Ow," he yelped.

"Serves you right," Hermione said, making a silly face at him as she plopped her spoon in her mouth.

"You're going to pay for that one," Cormac said wincing and flexing his hand to try to get feeling back.

Just as he finished saying that, Hermione was surprised to see that their path became immediately less smooth. She looked out the front of the windshield and Cormac was driving on a highly unused path through what looked like a rolling field.

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked looking at Cormac a little worried.

Calmly, Cormac shut off the headlights, and turned the key in the ignition. The engine died.

"It means I'm going to give you a head start," Cormac said turning slowly to face her.

Hermione met his look with a puzzled expression. She wasn't sure if he would be able to see the details of the face she was giving him, with only the moonlight.

It seemed like he couldn't tell. Instead, he started counting, "One. Two…"

"You're not serious, Cormac," Hermione said changing her expression to bored doubt.

"Four. Five."

"Seriously?" now she was worried.

"Seven. Eight."

Hermione took a fraction of a second to decide what to do. She threw her ice cream on the dashboard of the truck, and immediately fumbled to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Nine."

Hermione pulled on the door handle and started to run. She didn't think that Cormac would actually hurt her for giving him a dead arm, but the way he was sounding so calm made her that more intimidated.

Hermione was three steps from the truck when Cormac shouted out, "Ten!"

She heard the door to his side of the truck open and his footsteps whipping over the growth in the field.

"Cormac, don't you dare!" Hermione looked over her shoulder and he was hurtling after her.

She squeaked as she kept running as fast as her legs would take her.

Moments later, Cormac's hands wrapped around Hermione's waist. Hermione tried to change her direction to escape from him, but he held her tightly. Even though he held on to her tightly, her redirection and his speed caused the pair of them to lose balance.

Cormac was the first to hit the ground and he landed with a hard thud. He was fortunate enough to break Hermione's fall, but he got all of the wind knocked out of his lungs when she landed with her bottom on his gut.

All the air expelled out of his mouth.

"Sorry," Hermione pathetically tried to apologize for something that was absolutely not her fault.

Cormac was struggling to take a deep breath. He had a look of annoyance. He wasn't annoyed at Hermione. He was annoyed with himself. He tried to take in a deep breath, but his intake got caught in his throat. He went into a coughing fit. As he wheezed out of his storm of coughs, Hermione did her best to coddle him.

"Aw poor Cormac," she said trying to pat him on the back, "but you have to remember that this was your fault." She said that with a false sense of pity.

Cormac was able to fill his lungs with air completely again. He cracked a smile. He liked when Hermione was quick and witty with him.

From where he was sitting up, he lunged at her quickly. His plan was to trap her down on her back and start tickling her. He successfully got Hermione on her back and worked one of his hands down to her ribs.

Hermione gasped at his quick movement and once she realized what he was planning on doing she started pleading for him to halt.

"Cormac, I swear to god…" she got out before she couldn't help but be overtaken by laughter.

"I'm sorry. I didn't catch that, Granger," Cormac said still pinning her on the ground.

Words like "Cormac", "Stop", and "Please" escaped her lips in short gasps, but mostly it was Hermione's laughs that filled the air.

Cormac was just reaching his stride when Hermione tried to wiggle free. In her attempt to twist left then right violently, she inadvertently elbowed Cormac in the soft spot below his sternum. At Hermione's accidental strike to the solar plexus, Cormac again lost the ability to breathe for a moment.

He quickly gave up the tickle fight to Hermione's surprise. He backed away from her like she was some sort of dangerous time bomb. He was taking in short breaths until he had fully recovered.

"What happened?" Hermione asked sitting up. She was trying to pull debris from her hair.

"Lost. Air." He gasped just before he regained full control of breath again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," this time she was sincere.

"I think we are done with the rough housing," Cormac said offering Hermione a hand to her feet.

She took it. The pair strolled toward the truck. When they were ten yards from the vehicle, Cormac took off at a jog and reached in through the opened window. He reached for the dashboard and retrieved both dishes of ice cream.

"Let's sit out and enjoy the rest of my time right here," Cormac said handing Hermione's her cup.

"YOUR time?" Hermione sounded confused. Was her time not as precious or valuable as his?

"I'm on the clock right?" he attempted to clarify, but he didn't make his previous comment any clearer.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"I still only have until midnight, right?"

"Oh, yeah. In that case, you are on the clock," Hermione responded finally knowing what he meant.

"So I better enjoy whatever time I have left," he was leading her toward the back of the truck. First he helped Hermione up in the truck bed and Cormac hoisted himself up next to her. They both dangled their feet off the edge of the surface.

The evening was beautiful. In this part of the country there was no light pollution. Every star could be seen clearly in the midnight blue canvas of the sky. The only changes in the picturesque sight overhead was the occasional streak of some matter burning up in the atmosphere, or the constant flash of a light on a stray plane flying silently overhead.

Small talk filled the silent field. Hermione was just telling Cormac about her latest family vacation, when Cormac finished his ice cream, put the empty cup on the side and laid back on the bed of the truck.

Hermione's eyes followed him as he slowly lowered himself backwards. Cormac's eyes met hers just as he rested his head all the way down.

"Join me," Cormac said as he nudged with his head to the space next to him.

Hermione hadn't finished her ice cream yet, but she put her cup down and fell backwards as well.

Hermione looked up at the heavens and that occupied her sense of sight. She cool taste of Mint-Berry was still on her tongue and that lingered on her sense of taste. The faint, almost silent sounds of the night covered her sense of sound. Cormac's arm somehow snaked under Hermione's neck to support her and his other hand had worked into hers. That took over her senses of touch. A strong southern wind pushed directly toward them and a new sensation took over her.

"What is that smell?" Hermione shot up onto an elbow. She breathed in deeply again to fill her last sense with the scent.

Cormac mimicked her and took in as much of the air as he could, "That is the orchids."

"Which orchids?" Hermione asked. She was unaware of where these flowers were.

"These orchids," Cormac motioned all around the truck.

They had driven into a field full of the beautiful flowers.

"I've never smelled a flower like this," Hermione said catching the tail end of the southern breeze. It was a fruity smell that reminded Hermione of oranges.

"Apparently," Cormac started. He would never pretend to be an expert in flowers, but he knew a thing or two, "they smell even stronger at night. They're beautiful during the day. Maybe we can take a look sometime when you can actually see them. It's too dark to really do them any justice."

"That could be nice," Hermione said coming back down to rest on Cormac's arm.

Again, he took Hermione's hand in his own. With his thumb, he started drawing small circles on the back of her hand.

Hermione was looking straight up again, but turned to face Cormac when he didn't stop rubbing her hand.

Cormac was staring down at her hand, but the moment he felt her shift her body weight, he brought his eyes up to meet hers. He had a calm and peaceful look in her eyes.

Hermione hadn't been expecting him to be looking at her. She immediately felt shy.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him forced to avert her eyes from his.

"Thinking," he said without moving.

"Thinking about what?" she continued. She wasn't exactly thinking about the words she was choosing. It was just the next logical question.

"I'm wondering if you want to be kissed by a little more than the moonlight," again he said that without a single movement.

A smile beamed across Hermione's face and she looked back up at him.

He was looking back at her with a serious intrigue. Hermione couldn't think why he was just looking at her. Cormac was normally a doer. He normally acted first and thought later. But he was just lying there.

Hermione reached out with her hand, and cupped Cormac's cheek. She pulled him toward her as she reached out with her neck and lips. She kissed him passionately for a long moment. When she pulled away from him, she asked, "What do you think?"

Cormac just looked at Hermione through slightly squinted eyes as if he was looking at her in a new light. Hermione didn't know why he was looking at her like that, but she liked it. It made her feel wanted and sexy. She used this new sensation to feel empowered.

Hermione rolled from her side all the way over. She straddled Cormac over his waist and came back down to kiss him again.

They didn't have the opportunity to get any further than that first kiss because they were interrupted by the sound of a late night traveler speeding down the road.

"Who the hell is out this late?" Cormac said sitting up on an elbow with Hermione still on his waist. When the sound of the unknown vehicle sped by she immediately shot up.

"I don't know," Hermione said answering his rhetorical question.

"Wait what time is it?" Cormac asked sitting up and looking at the sports watch on his wrist, "Fuck." He had fifteen minutes until it was midnight. Granted, if anyone realized that the truck was missing, he would be in trouble no matter what, but he wanted to do the best he could to keep his word to have Hermione back by midnight.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked as Cormac tried to scramble to his feet.

"It's time to go," he said slowly rolling Hermione off of him.

"Are you sure?" Hermione was curious because just a second ago she was sitting on top of him, and now he wanted to go.

"Yes, come on," Cormac said already halfway inside the truck cab. The engine had fired up before Hermione had even gotten out of the truck bed.

Cormac flipped on the headlights and drove back to the paved road where he sped back to camp. Ten minutes later the truck was parked. No one had missed it. Cormac returned the keys above the driver's side visor and got out.

"Come on, Hermione," Cormac said running to the other side of the truck and opening the door for Hermione. He helped her unbuckle her seatbelt and dragged her out of the cab.

Hermione was laughing uncontrollably. It was silly for Cormac to be working so hard to get her back to her cabin, but she found it fun. Once Cormac saw that Hermione was having so much fun, he bought even deeper into the charade.

Cormac dragged Hermione through the silent camp, and Hermione had to work extra hard to keep her laughter down so that she wouldn't wake anyone.

Once they had reached Hermione's cabin, Cormac was almost out of breath and Hermione couldn't control her laughter.

"Ok," Cormac looked down at his watch, "It's 12:01." He sounded as though he were impressed with himself.

"Well you are one minute late, Cormac," Hermione pointed out to him.

"Yeah but that is close enough," again he sounded pleased.

Hermione started the slow ascent to the top of her porch.

Without being invited, Cormac followed her step for step.

"Where do you think you are going?" Hermione asked, turning on him once they were standing on the level surface just outside the door to her cabin.

"I was just…" he tried to think of the right words. It took him a few moments to decide on what he wanted to say, but before he could get the words out of his mouth he was halted by Hermione.

The way she was looking at him was in a way that he had never seen before. He looked back at her with interest. She appeared to be leaning in slowly toward him, but with painfully seductive eyes. Cormac processed what was happening and thought that the correct thing to do was copy her and move toward her lips.

They were coming closer. The heat of their breath could be felt against one another. Cormac could last Hermione – they were so close. At the last possible moment, Hermione straightened up and pulled away.

"Close enough," she said as she reached backward for the doorknob.

"What?!" Cormac said. He had never been teased so mercilessly in his life.

"You said 12:01 is close enough. That kiss was close enough," Hermione clarified.

Cormac smiled at her, but stepped toward her.

"No. No," she said placing a hand on his chest.

Cormac looked down at the small hand that was stopping him and then up at the beautiful girl in front of him.

"See you in the morning, Cormac," she closed the door and that was that.

**A/N: Some big things should be happening in the next chapters!**

**jrb2009**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Happy Hump Day**

**Chapter 33**

Wednesday was the day that the heat wave was expected to break, but as the usual pattern, that day was the hottest of the whole heat spell. Hermione woke up in what felt like a pool of her own sweat. After Cormac dropped her off at her cabin the night before, she had no problem getting to sleep. The day before had been long and she was expectedly tired. But around 4:00AM, she found herself awake. She was too uncomfortably hot to get back to sleep.

She tossed and turned trying to find a cool spot in her sheets or on her pillow, but she couldn't find any trick to help her out. She could have either been hallucinating or actually saw a heat haze rising in her cabin.

By 6:45, Hermione decided to try to take a cool shower to clean herself, but ultimately, she wanted to cool down her internal temperature. She took longer than she normally would, but she had no problem wasting the water to cool off. Hermione pulled her towel around her body and stepped into the main room of her cabin.

As she passed the threshold from her bathroom to the rest of her cabin, she was taken by surprise when she heard a voice from outside. The words weren't directed at her. They were just an exclamation. She was surprised because she didn't expect anyone to be outside this early.

Hermione had an idea who was outside by the voice, but was able to be absolutely certain of whom it was by the speaker's choice of vocabulary.

"Fucking, shit, ass, fuck," Hermione could hear Cormac's pseudo-Tourette's episode.

Still in her towel, Hermione cracked her door open to first see if Cormac was alone before she announced herself.

He was standing in shorts and running shoes. She couldn't see his face because he was swiping at it with the shirt in his hand, but his topless body couldn't be mistaken for anyone else at camp.

"Fucking fuck," Cormac was saying as he continued brushing the front of his face with his tshirt.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked stepping out onto her porch.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Cormac thought it was an obvious answer.

"I have no idea, Cormac. That's why I asked," Hermione pointed out to him with a little sass.

"I'm trying to get this massive spider web out of my face," Cormac said. He pulled his shirt away from his head for a second and Hermione had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

Cormac's use of the term 'massive' was accurate. Cormac's matted sweaty hair was tangled with a one-to-one ratio of Cormac's locks and sticky silvery spider web.

"How did you not see that?" Hermione said holding back her laughter from her porch.

"I wasn't looking where I was going," Cormac told her. In honesty, as he came running through the trees near Hermione's cabin, he was peering in the direction of her building and wasn't watching where he was going. It would've been impossible to miss seeing the spider's web if he was looking where he was going, but he neglected to do that.

Cormac was just finishing running around the lake and was covered in sweat. Hermione was admiring how masculine he looked while he continued trying to brush the web out of his hair. His muscles were rippling. His chest was heaving up and down from the exertion he put on his lungs. Sweat was cascading over his brow, down his chest, and off his abs. He had mud and dirt flecked on his shoes and his lower legs. As she looked closer he even had mud speckled on his chest and cheek. She even noticed a large spot in his brown hair. She had to do a double take as she noticed that the large spot in his hair seemed to crawl toward the back of his head.

Hermione's eyes popped out as she realized that the large dot that was about the size of her thumbnail was the body of the spider.

Hermione wasn't as petrified of spiders as Ron, but she definitely wouldn't consider herself a fan of the arachnid.

Still holding onto her towel, Hermione pointed and made a sound that resembled "EEP".

"What is it?" Cormac asked her. He moved his hand toward his head. He was trying to be funny when he said, "Is it my hair?"

He moved his hand exactly where Hermione was pointing. His smile was immediately wiped off of his face when he felt the spider crawl against his skin.

"Whoa!" Cormac also wasn't a fan of the crawling pest. He tried to shake the spider off of his wrist as it transferred from his hair to his hand. The arachnid hitched a ride on Cormac's limb as the teen flailed his arm around. Finally, he was able to remove the webmaker by swiping his shirt down the length of his arm.

Hermione couldn't help herself, "Very brave, Cormac." She was obviously being sarcastic.

"Very funny, Hermione." Cormac said using the same tone.

They eyed each other for a minute. Their stares started off as playful, but after a moment, they took in the sight of the other – Hermione standing with wet hair in a towel and Cormac shirtless and covered in sweat – their looks turned into something more carnal.

Both narrowed their eyes closer shut, before either of them could justify looking at the other any longer.

"Ok, I guess I'm going to go shower," Cormac said standing up straighter.

"Me too," Hermione said being pulled out of her intense stare with Cormac. She didn't realize what she had said until Cormac snorted to himself as he continued on his way to his cabin.

She retreated back inside and did her best to prepare for the day. By the time she had put on her camp outfit and put her hair up so that it wouldn't trap the heat around her neck, she already had a film of sweat covering her forehead and her upper chest. Sick and tired of being overheated in her cabin, Hermione pushed against her door and exited. The sun almost blinded her.

The giant orb overhead was blaring down on her with a brightness and heat that couldn't be explained. It was as if the sun was trying to be as oppressive as possible.

"It's so early. Why are you so hot?" she shook her fist in the direction of the heat source.

"Talking to yourself, Hermione?" Ross asked her from the path that led to the Otter's Counselor's cabin.

Hermione turned around because she wasn't expecting to see someone.

"I think talking to yourself is one of the first signs of heat exhaustion," Ross wasn't a doctor. He was just trying to be funny.

"I know," Hermione didn't know what to say. She was kind of embarrassed that she had been caught talking to the inanimate sun.

"Oh well," Ross tried to change the topic, "Are you on your way to pick up the Lady Otters for breakfast?"

Hermione had initially only stepped out to escape her cabin. The term cabin fever came to mind, when she thought back on it. But she looked down at her wrist watch and saw that it was a reasonable time to pick up her campers, "Yeah. Now seems like a good time."

She walked with Ross to the Otters' cabin first, and then walked with the group of boys to the Lady Otters' cabin. They stepped into the cafeteria and the first thing Hermione needed was a large glass of ice water.

Hermione brought her cup under the dispenser for ice cubes and the machine whirred, but nothing came out. She tried to look into the slot that normally flowed with uniformly shaped ice cubes, but nothing seemed to be happening. She pressed the dispense lever again, but again the machine buzzed without any ice.

"Sorry, Hermione," Mr. Craig said coming from behind her. He had a piece of paper and tape in his hands. He slapped on the "Out of Order" sign on the front of the ice machine.

This wasn't an absolute necessity for Hermione to have 'icy-cold' water, but it was not a boost to the morale of a series of campers and counselors that were sick of the heat wave.

"It's not so bad," Ross said coming behind her and dispensing water from the machine into his glass. He too was looking forward to something much colder to combat the external heat.

Hermione didn't want to appear to be dramatic, but she would've been disappointed in how she acted. Hermione finished off her glass of room temperature water, placed her glass on the conveyor to be cleaned and headed to gather her group for the next period.

Arts and Crafts went along fine. Most people were chattering and working on braiding friendship bracelets. The day was still early and everyone was still too groggy from waking up to be much fuss, but as the session approached its end, the eastward facing windows allowed the room to heat up. Nothing major happened, but Hermione could tell that temperatures were rising and just before one camper became too frustrated with the string tangled in the group arts and crafts box, the period came to an end. Hermione calmly untangled an arm's length of string for the camper just before they exited to face the heat.

Back in the cafeteria, before the group dispersed for the second session of the day, Hermione felt a strong hand brush against her back. She turned around to see Cormac. He had quietly been in the Arts and Crafts period, but was busy working his way into the hearts of some of the younger girls in the period working to trade string jewelry.

"Looking hot, Granger," Cormac said as he passed her. It was clear that there was the slightest possibility that Cormac was referring to the temperature outside, but Hermione and everyone within earshot knew what he was saying.

Hermione appreciated his comment and smiled as her ears turned red.

Cormac's response to her smile was a quick raise and drop in his eyebrows and a smile of his own.

Hermione knew what that look was implying and she just narrowed her eye in his direction.

A sly wink from everyone's favorite counselor made Hermione scoff. It seemed like his wink could get him out of any situation when she was supposed to be annoyed with him.

"Hey, Hermione?" a camper that couldn't be older than thirteen was standing next to Hermione with one of her friends.

"Yeah?" Hermione changed her attention to the pair of campers asking for her attention.

"Is Cormac your boyfriend?" the second one blurted out so that only the three of them could hear. Hermione knew that she had "blurted" it out, because the first camper shot her friend a dirty look.

"Excuse me?" Hermione was taken back by the question.

"What she means is…" the first girl tried to find a more diplomatic way in asking.

"Is Cormac your boyfriend?" the other girl interjected. When she was shot a dirty look by both Hermione and the first girl, she looked at them both, "What?'

"Why would you ask that?" Hermione didn't deny the accusation.

"You guys spend a lot of time together," the first girl pointed out.

"And you stare at each other a lot," the second said.

"No, he is not my boyfriend," Hermione said looking in Cormac's direction as he sat casually on top of a table while a small group hung on every word that he said.

"What about the boy that kept bringing you flowers?" the first girl asked.

"Yeah, he is handsome," the second one said.

"Definitely not," Hermione said and her tone got somberer.

"Well do you like Cormac?" the first girl asked Hermione.

"He did call you hot," the second girl added.

"Well…" Hermione's thoughts were trailing again as she peeked back in Cormac's direction. "He's not…" Hermione stopped herself. She didn't even know who these girls were. Something about them were familiar, but why?

"He's not what?" the second girl questioned.

"What cabin are you guys in?" Hermione narrowed her eyes at the campers.

The girls didn't say anything. They looked at each other quickly and then where their eyes flickered next gave them away.

Hermione's eyes followed their line of sight as they both looked over their shoulders at their counselor.

Naomi instantly became very interested in the molding on the floor as Hermione caught her friend's eye.

"Naomi Clyne!" Hermione shouted at her friend.

At the sound of her name, Naomi headed toward the drink fountains for a glass of water.

"Careful, Granger," a smooth voice said approaching, "You're scaring some of the campers."

Hermione noticed how handsome he looked as he walked in her direction. His hair was waved in the perfect direction, the sun through the large windows was hitting him just right, he had a light film of sweat on his forehead that looked sexy, and he hadn't shaved in a few days and had the slightest amount of rugged stubble on his jaw – for a seventeen year old.

Hermione couldn't do anything but smile as they huddled up the kids that would be present for the first of the two Academic Building sessions.

Hermione did her best not to swoon at every single one of Cormac's attempts to flirt with her. During their time together in the Academic Building, Cormac wrote another poem and read aloud. This time his piece of work was titled _Pretty Brown Eyes_.

Hermione had the feeling that this was another example of Cormac speaking directly at her without needing to speak directly to her. Hermione could see through his attempts to flatter her, but she also thought that since he had volunteered to read, he knew how to attract his audience.

The pair walked back to the cafeteria before the third period started and during the entire walk, Hermione couldn't help but feel an electric pull toward the teen. With every look he gave her, she felt her knees desire to shake, but she was too strong for that.

"I'll see you in a bit," Cormac said taking her by the wrist before he tossed her a wink and was surrounded by the campers ready to head to the football pitch.

"That Cormac," a softer voice said from behind Hermione.

Hermione recognized Nicky's voice immediately.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione denied what Nicky was implying.

"Ok, fine," Nicky said pretending to be hurt, "I understand that I'm not cool enough to talk about boy stuff with anyone."

"There's nothing to talk about," Hermione said, again, she peered in Cormac's direction as he trotted over to the group preparing to head to the fields. Cormac immediately grabbed Dayton and wrestled him into a headlock.

Nicky smiled when she saw how Cormac made Hermione smile.

Lunch was disappointing to Hermione. Her session in the Academic Building took longer than expected and by the time they reached the cafeteria, most of the seats were taken, and there were no seats by the one person whose attention she craved most. Instead, she found a table with a hodgepodge of the youngest campers. They were spending their meal with Mrs. Craig and were beginning to complain about how hot it was in the cafeteria. There was a hot meal, a hot day, no ice machine, and the large windows baked everyone in the room. The youngest members of camp couldn't handle the heat and were fussing for fifteen minutes until the end of the lunch hour concluded.

Tennis was fine. She and Gary hadn't reconciled since the "episode" over the weekend, but neither of them spoke to the other which wasn't good or bad, just lonely.

The swimming session in the lake was great. After a horrible lunch, and a miserable time being hot with no counselor to talk to at the tennis courts, Hermione desired nothing more than interaction with Cormac. She got her wish.

In the cafeteria, as the counselors tried to hurry their groups of campers to the correct sections of the room so that they could disband for the next period, Hermione found Cormac walking in her direction. The way that Cormac was looking at her right before they headed for the door toward the swimming session, would've melted the heart of a weaker girl, but the smile that spread across the boy's face did have an almost debilitating effect.

"Hello there," he said when she was finally within speaking range to him. He popped up on top of one of the table surfaces right next to her. It seemed unnecessary since they were already on their way toward the lake, but Hermione had to admit it looked "cool". It was apparent that he had just stopped by his cabin to change into a pair of swimming trunks.

"Hi," Hermione said with an eager smile back.

Cormac half-bit his lip in her direction before he smiled even harder back at her.

She loved it so much more when Cormac was so pleasant with her. For lack of a better way to describe it, it made her happy.

Eric gathered up the last straggling campers for the swimming session and everyone was only too eager to cool off in the lake. In the excitement despite the heat, a good number of campers tore out of the cafeteria at full speed to the lake. By the time Cormac and Hermione had arrived, towels littered the grass.

"…and that's why I'm not allowed in Greenhouse Three anymore." Cormac was finishing telling Hermione about an incident from his third year Herbology classes that excused him from ever needing to take the course again. The moral of the story was that Professor Sprout decided that for the safety of Cormac and the other students after his third year education, there was no longer a need for Cormac to continue with the study of magical plants.

Hermione was covering her mouth to not laugh at Cormac's expense, but it was hard.

"It's not funny, Granger. I still have the scars to this day! I'll show you," Cormac pretended to threaten to lower his swim shorts to show his more private areas.

"No! I'll take your word for it!" Hermione reached out with her hands to halt his arms while she continued to laugh.

Cormac wasn't taking as serious a tone with Hermione. He was laughing just as hard.

They were looking at each other for a minute and the same thoughts of a Hogwarts where they were friends – or maybe more than friends – jumped to their brains.

"Hey, Cormac, check it out!" a voice from the dock shouted. Cormac didn't want to look, but his attention was pulled away from Hermione for a second.

Dayton was running down the dock, jumped, flipped and twisted in midair. He landed into the lake feet first. It was impressive.

When the boy surfaced, he flipped his hair back and looked in the direction of Cormac and Hermione. In all honesty, he didn't know whose approval he desired more.

Hermione had also noticed and was impressed by the boy's acrobatics. She was going to turn and look at the expression on Cormac's face, but he wasn't standing where he was just a second ago. In the short span of time that the two counsellors were watching, Cormac had flipped his trainers off, thrown his shirt to the side and was hurtling down the dock at breakneck speed. He was looking to one-up Dayton with his own skills of acrobatics.

Hermione went through a myriad of emotions. First, she was impressed at how quickly Cormac was running down the dock, then she was amazed when he appeared to do a cartwheel at almost the edge of the dock, and then she was completely horrified when his feet landed on the slippery dock and gave out from under him.

Cormac had intended to do a sort of round-off backflip into the water – something Hermione had seen him do before, because it was a crowd pleaser – but this display went horribly wrong. When Cormac would normally land on two solid feet before springing himself in the air and into the water, he lost his footing and slipped as he meant to fly into the air.

"Shit!" could be heard off of his lips, but no one said anything, because it was absolutely warranted. Cormac's lower body had cleared the dock and was over the water, but most of his upper body did not. Cormac would've crashed head-first on the corner of the dock if his arm hadn't flailed up to protect himself. The first part to come into contact with the composite wood was the inside of Cormac's bicep and underarm area.

Everyone watched in horror as Cormac's upper torso bounced off the dock and the rest of his body fell into the water. A loud, poorly-distributed splash was the only sound other than a few gasps. Hermione ran over from where she was standing in the grass toward where the splash was, but Eric reached Cormac first.

It sounded like the two were fighting in the water, but they were both moving in a direction toward the shallower part of the lake.

"I'm fine, Eric," was the only thing that Cormac was saying over and over.

"Let me take a look," Eric said swimming and dragging Cormac to the shore with no problem. Eric was too strong of a swimmer.

"I don't need your 'first aid'," Cormac said annoyed that his friend was trying to be helpful. Cormac just didn't want the attention of his errors drawn to him.

Hermione had to trot around in a different direction to meet the boys on the shore, rather than on the dock.

"Can you stop pulling me? I can stand," Cormac said standing on his own two feet. Eric didn't technically release Cormac, because Cormac had successfully wretched his arm free.

Eric was going to say something harsh, because he was only trying to help, but Hermione interrupted him before he said anything. Anything that Eric would say would only upset Cormac further.

"It's ok, Eric. I'll look at him," Hermione didn't technically have a 'certified first-aid' background, but after a moment's hesitation Eric turned and headed back to the lake.

"I'm fine," Cormac said raising his hand out of Hermione's grasp, before she could speak.

"I didn't say anything," Hermione said harmlessly.

"You were going to say something," Cormac told her.

"I wasn't," she said bluntly.

Cormac twisted his arm toward the sky so that he could examine the soft muscle on the inside of his bicep. Hermione couldn't help but notice that the finest scratches were etched on his bicep and flecks of bruising and blood were already beginning to show.

"Does it hurt?" Hermione questioned still looking from a distance.

"No, it's fine," he told her. His ego hurt a lot more.

"How about another story?" Hermione asked Cormac, "Anything from Greenhouse Four?"

Cormac smiled as he and Hermione sat on the bank of the lake for the rest of the period.

They only broke from talking when Cormac would need to submerge himself in the shallow water, because of the heat or when Hermione would step up to her knees to cool off.

In the distance, very grey and black clouds could be seen, but they were so distant that no one from camp would be able to notice at that point in the day unless they were actively searching for them.

Cooking went on without a hitch. Again, Hermione and Naomi opted for an "oven-free" class because the thought of baking anything in the oven was too ironic because they felt like they were baking in the building already. Even though the pair of counselors' preference was to go oven-free, the campers begged and pleaded to learn how to bake a set of caramel brownies that Hermione and Naomi demonstrated the week before to a huge success. Reluctantly, the girls agreed.

Once the period was over, Hermione didn't even bother to go back to the cafeteria. She reasoned that it was her free time and she could spend it how she wanted. Since that was the case, she headed straight for her cabin. She spent the majority of her time prior to dinner doing her best to cool off. She took a spare washcloth and ran it under the cool tap in her bathroom. She headed to bed and laid the cloth across her forehead and did her best not to move.

She laid in bed with her eyes closed and enjoyed the cooling effect. No matter how much she cooled down; however, the cloth would lose its effect and Hermione would need to return to the tap and redamp the washcloth. No matter how good it felt to just lay there, eventually she would need to actively return to the bathroom.

Hermione was relieved when it was time for dinner, because that meant the day was almost over. But even though the day was almost at an end, she had no idea that the night was only beginning to heat up.

**A/N: I know that I said Happy Hump Day, but next chapter is the smut that everyone has been waiting for!**

**On a similar note, recently I have had a few users reach out to me via Private Message to see if I take requests. My original response was that I've never done that before, but would at least hear the requests. None of them were for HP fanfiction, or things that interested me. But the idea intrigued me. I don't know if anyone that enjoys my writing (especially my oneshots on ) would like to see if I could write something. If anyone did have recommendations or requests - and I did want to take those one - I would probably do them in oneshots or twoshots.**

**I just wanted to put that out there and see if anyone was interested based on my different stories (Cormac/Hermione and Hermione/Snape).**

**jrb2009**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Sorry that this took me so long to post. I didn't get around to finishing editing this chapter until this morning. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 34**

When Hermione walked into the dining hall a few minutes before the food was being served, the main topic of conversation was the disappointment of the heatwave not yet breaking.

"It's supposed to come a little later tonight," Wayne was telling his table of also early comers. They were occupying a table closest to the door to take advantage of any passing breeze that would sweep over them when someone opened the door.

Hermione didn't join the conversation, but she was sure glad to hear that the unseasonable heat for that part of the country was going to finally subside.

"Hey, Hermione," a smooth voice said stepping behind her as he continued into the dining hall. There were only a handful of people present in the building, but Hermione found it a nice gesture that Cormac stood up to follow her. The pair of them sat at a new table, since there was no room for Hermione at the table with Wayne.

Cormac was looking at Hermione with something more than friendship. It made Hermione uneasy in the best possible way. They sat silently for a moment. Hermione could sense that Cormac was only looking at her with his charming smile and Hermione did her best not to notice by locking her eyes in different corners of the room.

Partially disturbed by the silence, Hermione spoke, "How's your arm feel?"

Cormac held it up to investigate himself, "I don't know. I haven't checked."

He was wearing his standard issue camp counselor tshirt, which had sleeves that would've covered his upper arm, but as he lifted it up, more of his tight skin could be seen.

Hermione looked and saw that Cormac was bruised and scratched a little, but it wasn't anything alarming.

They were interrupted when a mad dash for the food lines broke out.

"Shall we?" Cormac asked motioning his hand for Hermione to follow the crowd that had begun to form a line.

The pair of them returned to their table and surprisingly no one that was in the dining hall at the time wanted to join them. Some people were still sitting with Wayne; a group of boys aged from ten to eleven wanted a table to themselves so that they could play a card game. Bree Craig had a group of campers to herself and other little pockets kept Cormac and Hermione to themselves for the moment.

Hermione began eating and she couldn't help but feel like Cormac's eyes were fixed on her. She looked up a few times and caught him staring.

"What?" Hermione asked. She was feeling self-conscious like she had something on her face or in her teeth.

"Nothing," he said plainly and would dig his fork back to his plate, but shortly after Hermione could feel him watching her again.

"Cormac, don't look at me like that," she said to him after she caught him looking at her with an impish flicker in his eye.

"Like what?" he said without dropping his gaze.

"Like that!" she pointed a finger in the direction of his face.

"Why?" he questioned her. His smile was growing wider.

She paused for a moment. She grabbed a pea off her plate and threw it at him. "It makes me uncomfortable," she said after she thought of the right words.

With the reflexes of a Quidditch keeper, Cormac caught the pea in his left hand. He continued smirking, but he directed his smirk down at his plate rather than at Hermione.

"Did you hit your head this afternoon or what?" Hermione asked looking at him as he continued smirking at his plate.

"You're funny," Cormac said disregarding the question. Hermione was going to respond again, but he looked up at her and threw her that always charming wink. If she had blinked, she would've missed it. Normally, she would've crumbled and been forced to look away from him due to feeling shy, but this time, she narrowed her eyes in his direction and went back to her food.

Shortly after, Hermione and Cormac were surrounded by a few campers. Of course, Dayton was the first to join them.

"Hey, Hermione," the young teenager said addressing her.

"Hi, Dayton," she said smiling warmly at the boy.

"You look nice," Dayton added.

Before Hermione could respond to Dayton's nice words, Cormac had nudged him in the arm, "Don't be a prat."

"No, I mean it," Dayton sounded so sincere. It was sweet

In all honesty, Hermione felt like she didn't look any different than any other dinner.

"Well thank you," Hermione said receiving the compliment gracefully.

"You're welcome," Dayton's words were meant for Hermione, but he only looked at Cormac with victory in his eyes.

Cormac scoffed.

"How's your arm doing?" Dayton said bringing his attention back to Cormac.

"Not too bad," Cormac said holding it up so that he could show the boy.

"You wiped out pretty bad," Dayton said doing his best to hold back a smile from coming through.

Cormac couldn't hold back a smile off his own face, "Fuck off." And Cormac smacked the young teen in the arm again.

Dayton winced and rubbed his arm. Hermione wondered if there was anything Dayton loved more that when Cormac would lovingly pick on him.

"Hey, I never asked you what happened there," Dayton said pointing to the aging scab under Cormac's eye.

Cormac had almost forgotten about it, "This?" he pointed with his index finger.

Dayton nodded. Now there were more campers at the dining table. Hermione was interest to see what Cormac was going to say.

"It's nothing," Cormac said with a sly grin that told the table that there was a much better story than he was letting on.

Dayton had heard stories first hand from Cormac's history of getting in scuffles before, so the youngster knew what Cormac was alluding to with that crooked smile, "What about the other guy?"

"What about him?" Cormac gave a short wink to Dayton. It was different than the winks Cormac would direct at Hermione, but just as effective and charming.

"Does he look worse than you?"

"Yeah, but I don't know why we need to bring his looks into this. Have you seen me?" Cormac's joke was received well and that was the last of the conversation that had put the spotlight on Cormac.

Most of the campers kept the conversation amongst themselves at their table and this allowed Cormac and Hermione to give each other smiles and flirty looks throughout the meal.

Cormac was just smiling at Hermione through the corner of his mouth when they were interrupted. Ross had approached Hermione from behind and neither she nor Cormac had noticed.

"Hey, Hermione," Ross had an apologetic and embarrassed note in his voice, "Sorry, Cormac."

"Hi, Ross," Hermione greeted him.

Cormac acknowledged Ross by nodding his head at him.

"I know you aren't working in the Infirmary, just yet," he emphasized the words 'just' and 'yet', "But I have a headache that hurts something wicked. Could we head over there and get me something?"

Hermione was taken back by the request. She had absolutely no problem doing that for Ross, but she was flustered.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just…" she tried to stand up, grab her tray, make sure she had the Infirmary key, and address Ross all at the same time.

"Before you hurt yourself," Cormac started. He was reaching out to keep her tray where it was, "You just go with Ross. I will take care of these."

"Alright. Thanks, Cormac," Hermione smiled appreciatively at him.

"I'll see you in a bit," Cormac told her.

Hermione and Ross quietly exited the loud cafeteria and made their way to the Infirmary.

When the two stepped out of the building, the temperature was declining, but the air was miserably humid.

Hermione and Ross worked together to find some migraine medicine and once Ross had two tablets, he thanked Hermione and apologized for pulling her away from dinner early. She assured him that it was not a problem at all, and he went on his way. Hermione looked at the clock and she had five minutes before the second chunk of free time of the day officially began. It was pointless to go back to the dining hall, so she decided to start early.

Hermione sat down at the computer and started her ritual of Solitaire and Minesweeper. She spent the majority of the hour-long-period sitting at the computer. She was only interrupted twice. Both times two boys showed up. One from each pair needed a bandage and the other was there to support his friend.

Hermione sat in the Infirmary for the entirety of the hour. Something she hadn't done before, but once the hands on the clock face identified that she had completed her time, she shut the computer down and headed to the door.

She stepped outside and put the key in the lock. She twisted the key to the left and that locked the door. She jingled the key and twisted the knob to make sure that the door was securely closed. If she turned the key all the way to the left again, it would temporarily unlock the clasp to allow entrance, but lock immediately again. If she turned it right, the latch would unlock permanently until it was locked again. Once she was certain that the door was securely shut, she turned to head back toward camp.

Down the path about fifty yards ahead of her, she could see a mass of people that looked like the crowd that was headed back from the camp store. Without needing to look very hard, Hermione could immediately pick out Cormac. His was the silhouette that had three campers hanging onto him.

Hermione was just beginning to notice the feeling in the air of an inevitable storm when she saw it all happen.

Cormac never saw it coming, but while one camper was clawing at Cormac's back, another was grabbing him by a leg and a third was pulling one of his arms, what he hadn't seen was a fourth boy trying to run and jump onto Cormac as well. Caught unaware and already unbalanced, Cormac did everything in his powers to remain on his feet, but it was no use. Not even the superior athlete that Cormac was could keep himself balanced and standing. Cormac staggered a few steps to try to keep the boys up, but the game ended with Cormac stumbling toward the edge of the path and tumbling into the unmanaged brush.

Hermione started to run as soon as she could hear Cormac's swearing. When Hermione arrived, it was a mess. Cormac was sprawled on his back, reaching toward his lower back with one hand. He was swearing softly to himself. A few people had circled to see if everyone was ok. The four little campers were crying. They weren't hurt. They were surprised that they had all fallen, shocked that Cormac was swearing, and afraid that they were going to get in trouble.

Thankfully, Haley took over the situation. She did a good job corralling the campers together and calming them down.

"It's ok. Cormac is going to be fine," Haley said to the boys in a hushed voice.

"Speak for yourself," Cormac said still reaching back for the same spot behind himself.

"Don't be dramatic," Hermione tried to say out of the corner of her mouth.

"I'm dying," Cormac said through a half-hushed voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Come on, everyone. Let's get to the cabins. Hermione can take Cormac to the Infirmary. Besides we want to get you inside, because it looks like it is going to storm." Haley said trying to hustle everyone toward Lower Bridge.

The boys apologized to Cormac before they followed the other counselor to the cabins.

"Are you ready, you big baby?" Hermione said reaching down to help Cormac up.

"If I wasn't in so much pain, I'd yell at you," he warned her.

"Lucky me," she extended a hand down toward him and he took it. He gingerly got to his feet.

Hermione meant to walk toward the infirmary a little faster, but Cormac was taking a seriously slow pace and still had an agonized look on his face.

"Are you going to be ok?" Hermione asked back to him. This time her tone was more concerned.

"I don't see how it could be much worse," Cormac's voice sounded strained as if taking breath was very uncomfortable.

"You think?" Hermione asked him.

They both heard it before they saw it. Coming from the direction of the lake and Lower Bridge, a wall of rain approached them. Finally, the dark clouds that were lingering in the distance earlier that day were over Camp Craig. The predicted storms that were finally there to wash away the heat wave had descended.

It was too stereotypical of the situation. There was no transition between a sprinkle and the heavier rains. It was dry and the counsellors could hear the rushing rains coming toward them, then it was pouring so hard that they couldn't even hear their own thoughts.

Hermione looked at Cormac just as the first advances of the wall of water met them. Cormac looked unsure of what to do. Hermione didn't look for his approval. She just turned away from him and ran at full throttle toward the Infirmary.

"I'll meet you there," Hermione shouted as she tried to cover herself from the rain with a tiny hand.

"Are you kidding me?!" Cormac screamed back to her. He wasn't comfortable enough going off at a full run, but he used a combination of a strained trot and fast walking to move after her. He mumbled inappropriate words after Hermione just as the wall of rain crept up on him.

Hermione had moved quickly enough and wasn't completely soaked through her t-shirt. There were large drops all over it, but she had moved effectively down the path so that there were large overhanging trees where she could run to take shelter under. She pushed the key into the keyhole and twisted left. In the same twist, it temporarily unlocked the door. Hermione pushed the door in and she was allowed entrance. She left the door opened so that Cormac could enter whenever it was that he arrived. When she released the doorknob, the lock snapped back to the "locked" setting even though the door remained swung open.

After Hermione was able to make the appropriate exclamations to herself about the storm, and after she was able to thank her lucky stars that the Infirmary was so close, she did her best to start searching for something that would help Cormac's condition. Hermione wasn't searching very long before Cormac appeared in the doorway of the Infirmary dripping on the floor.

"Oh my god, Cormac," Hermione said feeling slightly guilty about leaving him out in the rain.

"This has not been my day," he approached Hermione. He wasn't holding his lower back anymore, but he was walking very tenderly.

It was raining with so much force outside that there wasn't an inch of him that was dry. His shirt was completely soaked through, and his hair was matted down - he had droplets of rain water trailing from the tops of his hair down his face and beyond. It reminded Hermione of a wet dog.

Cormac had a look of disbelief on his face. Not because he was appalled by Hermione's actions, because he wished he was able to sprint through the rain himself. In all honesty, he was trying to think if he would've done the same thing if their roles were reversed. What astonished him was that the storm had arrived so suddenly.

"Well," he said flailing his arms to try to shake the rain off of his skin, "at least it's a warm rain."

He did his best to pluck his t-shirt from his skin. It was so soaked through that it appeared to be plastered to his skin. When he released it, it fell right back to embracing his body.

"Sorry," Hermione said again feeling bad that she had left him to fend for himself.

Cormac didn't respond and say "It's ok," because he wouldn't've meant it. He just made a face that told her that he understood.

"Alright, let's take a look," Hermione said feeling a little bit of tension. She wanted to get back on track to examining Cormac.

Cormac walked over to the middle of the room and under one of the fluorescent lights.

"Where does it hurt?" Hermione asked him, knowing it was somewhere around his lower back.

"Over here," he said moving to lift his shirt off from his back.

At that moment, a strong gust almost knocked the door to the infirmary off its hinges. Both the teenagers jumped as the door crashed against the wall. Hermione reacted quicker than Cormac. Because it was only a very brief gust, the door blew opened, but Hermione had no problem closing the door. This time, she made sure that the door clicked shut behind her.

"Ok, sorry," Hermione apologized for nothing as she returned back to where Cormac was standing, "So where does it hurt?"

Cormac reached behind himself and grabbed the hem of his tshirt again. He lifted it up as high as he could, but it was difficult, since his shirt was so wet. The fact that his shirt was soaked made it difficult because it allowed the material to stretch better and it also made the fabric want to stick to his skin more.

Frustrated that he was having a hard time with the simple task of raising his shirt, Cormac's irritation elevated.

"Fucking thing…" He said as he tried to twist and pull it up and over his head.

Hermione had to dodge his shifting arms to avoid getting hit, but she placed a hand on his elbow softly, "Here."

Cormac ceased as soon as her gentle touch came in contact with him. It was true what he had said earlier, that that particular day was not 'his day', but Hermione's touch calmed him down immediately. While Cormac relaxed, Hermione balled the hem of his shirt in her hand and slowly pulled the article of clothing up. Cormac lifted his hands over his head.

Without realizing what she was doing, she continued lifting his shirt higher and higher. She was standing behind him and was looking at his back. It was tight, strong and defined. Hermione couldn't fathom how Cormac had acquired such a muscular form at seventeen years old. The more she lifted his shirt up, the more his musculature revealed in a V shape. It didn't take long for Cormac's shoulders to be exposed. She idly continued lifting his shirt higher and higher. Cormac's shoulders, like his back, were strong and toned. She was lost in her admiration of him.

Cormac took his shirt in his own hands once the piece of clothing was above his shoulders. Slowly, he removed his shirt over the top of his head. This was the first time Hermione took a moment to inspect his back, in a somewhat medical sense - like she had originally intended, and there was already some noticeable bruising in a diagonal from his lower back to his middle back across his spine. There was no bleeding, but already some noticeable marks.

"Cormac, your back," Hermione tried to point out to him, but he spun around on his heels.

"What about it?" he was so close to her that she had tilted her head back deeply to look up at him.

"It looks bad," Hermione said to him, but her tone was very distant. The words she was saying were robotic.

"Does it?" Cormac seemed to tower over Hermione. His words, like hers, weren't present. His thoughts were elsewhere.

Hermione shifted on her feet. She felt like she was going to fall backwards from looking up at the boy, so she took the slightest step to balance herself. Cormac followed her movements and stepped toward her. Hermione was still craning her neck to look in Cormac's direction. She watched as something behind his brown eyes sparkled. As she watched his eyes shine in a different light, she felt hers do the same. A second later, she was swept up by the teen boy.

He stepped forward and took Hermione's face in his hands. His touch was forceful, but tender. The space where his thumb connected with the rest of his hand framed around Hermione's ears. His fingers tangled in her hair. She was able to appreciate the sensation of his fingertips against her scalp for a moment, before he brought his face down to her. He didn't lift her up to him, but he leaned in to kiss her.

Hermione instinctively was startled and taken by surprise, but found herself pleasantly surprised. Her left hand rested idly on his right forearm as she kissed him back. Her other hand went up to cup his cheek. She felt the slightest smile etch on his face against her lips.

In a flash, Cormac grabbed Hermione by her lower back and pulled her up against him. His body was soft, yet hard. Obviously, they had kissed before, but the way that Cormac was holding her and kissing her was different. Cormac was holding her tightly, but in a delicate manner. All these contrasting sensations confused Hermione. It confused her and excited her.

Cormac abandoned his gentle approach for a second, when he jerked Hermione up in his arms. He still had his lips pressed against hers, but lifted Hermione from beneath her bottom. Hermione knew that she was being moved around the room, but didn't care. She was interested to find that Cormac had rested her on the examination bench in the Infirmary.

The next movements happened so naturally to both of them. Cormac's hands grabbed the bottom of Hermione's shirt. Hermione lifted her hands off the examination bench and raised them above her head. Cormac shimmied the shirt slowly up her slender torso. He didn't remove his lips from her until he was absolutely forced to do so. As he raised his hands, his fingers dragged against the skin closest to her hips, then up her ribs, across her bra, and up to her collarbone. They pulled apart for the span of a second that was required for Cormac to ball the article of clothing in his hands and toss it on the floor next to his wet staff shirt.

Cormac replaced his hands onto Hermione's hips. His thumbs gripped onto the waistbands on her lower layers. Hermione pressed her palms behind her and against the examination bench. This forced her upper torso to protrude toward him. Cormac rested his forehead on Hermione's.

"Are you ok?" Cormac questioned her slightly out of breath from kissing. He seemed to be just as surprised in the suddenness of their actions as she was.

Hermione bit her lip, but nodded twice slowly.

"Do you know what I'm asking?" Cormac asked seriously.

Again, she nodded.

"Yeah?" he breathed out.

One last time, she nodded.

Cormac removed his forehead from hers and dove his lips to the skin behind Hermione's ear. This sent exciting sensations down her spine. She pressed her body into Cormac's again. She used so much force that she almost knocked him backwards, but he maintained his balance and was driven by how hard she was pressing into him. Cormac took his hands and brought them back up to the beautiful girl's face. He brought his lips up to her and pushed his tongue into her mouth. Hermione happily allowed him to continue.

Hermione had so many thoughts running through her mind. She was feeling excited, nervous, on edge, anxious and mischievous. She was so distracted by her circumstances that she didn't realize that Cormac had removed her bra and shorts, and he was standing only in his boxers with a noticeable erection.

Her eyes shot wide for a moment. She was pretty sure that she wanted to say something, but she didn't get to find out what her brain innately wanted to voice, because Cormac was back to cupping her face and kissing her. Hermione felt her blood bring warmth to her face. She knew that her cheeks were reddening. If it were at all possible, she felt like she was flushing even more.

Two of Cormac's fingers were pressing against her slit against the thin layer she still had on. He was pushing against her most sensitive skin and his hand was moving up and down her sensitive opening. Hermione would've been embarrassed to realize that she had let out a small moan of pleasure, but she was enjoying herself so much that she didn't even realize the sound came from her.

Cormac peeled his lips off of Hermione's and brought them to her neck. Hermione knew to tilt her head toward the ceiling to allow him the best access to the soft skin that he was trying to trace with his kisses. Hermione's eyes were closed to shield them from the lights, but the closing of her eyes worked well with the curling of her toes.

Cormac was moving expertly. His lips were placing enticing touches on the skin molded against her collarbone, his left hand was framing her ear and was massaging the soft skin where his fingers rested as well as tugging on her earlobe, and his right hand was now flicking her most delicate layer to the side so that he could get more intimate access to Hermione.

Cormac's fingers found her smallest nub and he started by maneuvering his fingers gently and teasingly over those nerve endings. This accomplished the goal of building Hermione up. Hermione felt her heart racing and something else in her chest rising quickly. Once that unknown feeling had plateaued to a level she couldn't think would go any higher, Cormac quickened his pace. That was what Hermione expected and needed.

Hermione's grip in Cormac's hair tightened slightly, but her clench on the edge of the examination table constricted considerably. Her left-handed knuckles were turning white against the examination bench as she approached her first orgasm.

Hermione seemed to gasp the name, "Cormac," as if it were her last breath.

This encouraged Cormac even further. He kept the movements of his hands at their smooth, steady, fast pace and in no time Hermione's brain was being flooded with pleasure chemicals again, and again. Hermione's mouth remained agape as she only saw different colors against the backdrop of her closed eyelids.

Cormac withdrew his hand from where it had just been to Hermione's relief. She needed a minute to regain her breath. When Hermione had the power to open her eyes again, she was a little blinded by the light. When her eyes adjusted after a few moments, she was somewhat surprised to see that Cormac was standing stark naked in front of her. He looked like one of the ancient Greek statues Hermione had seen in museums on holiday in the past. The only difference was that the Statue of David didn't have his member standing at full attention.

Hermione was pleasantly flattered seeing Cormac stand there. She wanted to look into his eyes to read what he was thinking, but he was briefly looking over his shoulder. In the corner, there was a lone cot in case there was ever a reason for a camper to spend the night in the Infirmary. For as long as either the counselors had been attending camp, it had never been used - at least for its intended purpose.

"Hermione," Cormac said turning back to face her.

Hermione looked into his eyes and the way that his eyes seemed so familiar, as if there were so many years of history together, she responded, "Yes." It was a response to his next question, not a question for him to continue asking that question.

"Do you…"

"Yes," she answered definitively.

Cormac did his best not to act too eagerly, but like any seventeen year old, he couldn't contain his impatience very well. He crossed the space to Hermione more swiftly than Hermione had ever seen him move. In the process, he kicked his boxer shorts to the corner. He pulled Hermione against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and did her best to kiss the skin behind his ear as he did his best to move them both across the room. Cormac bent over at the waist with no problem at all. He deposited Hermione on the cot first. As he laid her down, his hands lingered on the waistband of the final layer of clothing that kept her from being fully naked. Cormac didn't want to remove them without her permission. He didn't get the chance, because Hermione adjusted her weight and started peeling them off of her body for him. Moments later, the last article of clothing was on the floor next to the cot.

Again, too eager for the situation at hand, Cormac moved faster than Hermione had ever seen. This worked against him, because as he lowered himself onto the cot with all that momentum, the cot made a loud creak as it strained. The loud creak was coupled with a faint sound of two hollow objects coming together delicately. The stiff makeshift bed didn't displace any of their weight and Cormac misjudged how close Hermione's head was to his own. Very gently, their foreheads connected, but the dull sound of two heads colliding was heard.

For a moment all the sexual tension left the room.

"I'm so sorry," Cormac said after a second of shocked silence.

They made eye contact. Both their eyes were wide with anticipation hoping that the moment hadn't passed. And it had passed.

A wide smile broke over Hermione's face as the moment of pain came to her head.

"Ow." she said with a large grin.

Cormac's forehead came down on hers delicately and they both laughed for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry," Cormac said through a wide grin.

The moment was almost childish. It reminded both of them that they were still teenagers. They made eye contact again, once the smiling was beginning to hurt their cheeks. The moment that had passed was back.

Hermione flung her arms around Cormac's neck and pulled him down to her. He was barely quick enough to rest his palms on either side of her head to keep them from clattering heads again. Hermione worked her arms down from his neck, across his shoulder, and down his arms. Every inch of him seemed to be made of muscle. She wanted to explore more and more of his body with her hands. His chest seemed to be much more defined than his age let on. It was sizable and toned. Each of his abdominal muscles seemed to be little packages for Hermione's hands to discover. Her left hands remained gripping on Cormac's lower torso while her right hand ventured further down. Eventually, she took his manhood in her hand.

Cormac showed his appreciation for this new development by sliding his tongue into Hermione's mouth. Their tongues entwined and danced together while Hermione's small hands moved up and down between their bodies. Cormac let out an exasperated breath as he pulled away from Hermione's mouth. He also removed Hermione's hand from his body for a moment to recover.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

She was feeling very 'in the moment' kissing and stroking Cormac.

Cormac had pulled away from Hermione because he felt like he was moments away from the edge. The excuse he told her saved his ego, "Nothing. It's your turn."

Cormac leaned over Hermione with his left hand, and brought his right hand back to her naked slit and he pushed two fingers into her. Hermione's response was a groan of pleasure. Cormac had been in this position with Hermione so many times in the past week or so, that he knew exactly what to do. He worked his fingers inside her and within half a minute Hermione was heightening her breath as Cormac pushed her body to climax.

Hermione squirmed as the delightful sensations rushed over her. Cormac's body leaned over hers, their hot bodies next to each other; the pounding rain outside, along with Cormac's rapidly vibrating hand brought her over again.

A flurry of movements happened and then Hermione became hyper-aware of every inch of Cormac's body. Cormac was flat on top of Hermione again. There was a fever running between both their bodies. Everything was heating up between them, and then something changed their feeling about the other forever.

Cormac lifted his head up and looked into Hermione's eyes. Their noses touched for a moment and then he brought their foreheads together. They had a silent conversation. Cormac reached out with one hand and squeezed Hermione's hand gently. His other hand caressed her cheek.

"Close your eyes for a second if you are scared," Cormac breathed to her with his head still resting on her forehead.

Hermione wanted to be brave like the Gryffindor she was, but she was still feeling nervous. She closed her eyes and waited for what was going to happen next.

She felt a sharp pressure - not pain - and waited while Cormac froze on top of her.

"Are you ok?" he asked her after a moment of silence and no movement.

Hermione opened her eyes, "Yeah." She hated that he had stopped. The anticipation was almost worse than the searing pain that she was expecting.

"Ok," Cormac said going down to kiss her. He started to move his body more on top of her and Hermione couldn't believe how she was feeling.

Hermione had heard different girls in the dorms at school talk about the unendurable pain of having sex for the first time, but Hermione didn't experience it. The sharp pressure was as bad as it got. Instead, she got to immediately enjoy the pleasure of having an attractive boy send pleasure to her brain through the most direct route.

While inside Hermione, Cormac continued to squeeze her hand as he did his best to start off slowly. His hips lifted and fell as he pushed into her. He was worried that he was going to hurt her at some point, but once she didn't oppose, he couldn't resist himself. Cormac started to push deeper and deeper into Hermione's core and that only excited him more. He quickened his pace.

Hermione felt Cormac push faster and deeper into her and it took her body a few hard thrusts to adjust to the rougher movements, but his actions were amazing. She was squeezing his hand back and her other hand was gripping onto his waist tightly. Her eyes were closed and she could feel her head sliding up and down on the cot as he kept driving into her.

Hermione felt like she was resting on a cloud as her thoughts and vision started to get a little foggy. Just when she thought she could be close to reaching ecstasy again, Cormac removed himself from her suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Hermione said. She was feeling disappointed that he wasn't continuing.

Again the teen needed a break or all the fun was going to be over. He covered his reason well, "Climb on top." He moved to sit down on the cot. He rested his hands behind his backside to support his weight.

Hermione's skin wanted to stick to the cot because of the sweat that had built up, but she had no problem scampering to a seated position. She worked her way to her knees and started to move toward Cormac's lap. She placed her knees on either side of the older Gryffindor. This was a position that she had heard the other girls in the dorm talk about, and the mechanics seemed pretty straight forward.

Hermione put her hands on Cormac's strong, muscular chest to ease herself into his lap. She sat up high on her knees in front of him and moved her hands on either side of his neck. With the boy's help, she felt the tip of his manhood just outside her entrance. Hermione's willing body took it inside her as she lowered herself. She moved herself all the way down on him and the sensation was incredible. The feeling deep inside her was the most pleasurable sensation she had ever felt.

Hermione started rocking her hips forward and backward in Cormac's lap.

Cormac let a groan escape his lips. Hermione knew that what she was doing was good. She smiled innocently.

"What?" she asked - she already knew the answer.

"Just keep going," Cormac said looking at her with an appreciative smile.

Hermione bit her lip and kept moving back and forth. She was doing her best to move just her hips, because that felt good inside her and that kept Cormac's breath quick and shallow. Hermione gripped on Cormac tighter as she moved her hips a little faster.

"Hermione," he moaned out of his throat. His fingertips were digging into the sheets on the cot. Cormac had adjusted to sit up a little higher so that he could wrap his arms around Hermione's lower back.

Hermione kept flexing her back and rolling her body with Cormac inside her. Cormac moved his lips to Hermione's collarbone and gripped onto her back tightly. He had used the excuse to stop for a break too many times and was now built up too much.

"Hermione, keep going," he breathed against her skin.

Hermione kept her hips grinding against his and she couldn't believe how incredible this sensation was. In a flash, Hermione was flat on her back. Cormac had turned the tables in a last ditch effort. Hermione was lying down with her feet off the edge of the cot. Cormac was standing on his two feet and had Hermione's legs propped up against his body. With all the leverage he could access, he was driving into her at a steady pace. Hermione peeked through her shut eyelids for a moment to see the strained expression on his face.

Both their breathing was quickened and the last sound was Hermione letting out a short cry of excitement, before Cormac removed himself from her and laid his white ropes onto Hermione's body. His first shots were long strands below Hermione's breasts to her belly button, and the rest of his release pooled on her flat stomach. With a heavy sigh, Cormac collapse on the side next to Hermione.

Either sweat or rain water was across Cormac's brow and chest. He and Hermione looked at each other for a second. Both of them had their heads resting on the cot. Both were naked. Hermione was covered in the evidence that Cormac had just finished and they both laughed before Cormac rolled over and kissed Hermione.

**A/N: More smut to come? Or back to the activities and shenanigans of camp?**

**jrb2009**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Hi everybody, updating this from my phone which is a first, because I'm on vacation. Heading to Universal's Harry Potter World tomorrow. Wish me luck and enjoy. **

**Chapter 35**

Hermione assumed that the following interaction would be an awkward ordeal, but she was wrong. The pair of them had fun while they worked to clean up. They were laughing and flirting the whole time. Ultimately, Hermione was very happy with her decision to share that 'experience' with Cormac.

Cormac held a small bundle of tissues that they had used to clean off Hermione's body. He held them in the air like a basketball player and said, "Watch this."

There was a rubbish bin in the corner that he was aiming for. Hermione turned her attention from straightening the cot to look in his direction. Cormac maintained eye contact with her as he tossed the un-uniformly shaped object through the air. The wad of dirty tissues landed well-short of the target.

"Damn," Cormac said hanging his head.

"Aw, it was a good try," Hermione said crossing the floor to him. She stood toe-to-toe with him and lifted onto their points so that she could kiss his lips.

Cormac smiled. They looked up at the clock once the whole Infirmary was as spotless as when they arrived, and it was almost time for the last check of the campers. Cormac and Hermione exited the Infirmary and the rain was still coming down strongly. This didn't deter them from the elated mood that they both were in. They were both standing under the tiny awning of the Infirmary and took off at a run.

Hermione felt the puddles splash up her legs and soak her socks as she did her best to stay dry, but there was nowhere to run where they wouldn't get wet. Cormac was keeping up step for step with her unlike when they ran earlier that night.

"Cormac, I forgot to look at your back," Hermione shouted as they tried to run through the roaring rain.

"I don't think we have to worry about that anymore," Cormac said squinting as he tried to keep the rain droplets from slapping him in the eyes. He seemed to be right because while earlier he was having a hard time moving, Cormac seemed to glide through the rain like a gazelle.

By the time that they reached the cabins, there wasn't an inch of them that was dry. Hermione's hair was matted down, her clothes had taken on a new, darker color since it was soaked through and she was completely out of breath.

Hermione made a quick head count to make sure that all of her Lady Otters were present and she was happy that she arrived perfectly on time. She bade her campers goodnight and headed back outside.

Just as she was stepping outside, the rest of the counselors that had cabins off of Lower Bridge saw the short blur that was Gary running in the rain. He was wearing a bright yellow poncho with a hood drawn up. He was doing his best to shout over the rain to anyone that could hear him.

"Staff meeting is cancelled tonight," Gary's voice could barely be heard over the crashing of the rain, "Staff meeting is moved to first thing tomorrow morning."

He didn't wait for anyone's affirmation of hearing the instructions. Instead, he just turned toward the cabins by Upper Bridge and took off at a run to try to get out of the storm as quickly as possible.

"Bedtime?" a smooth voice said from the bottom of the steps from outside the Lady Otter's cabin.

Cormac was looking up the few steps in Hermione's direction and was getting poured on by the skies. It didn't affect him anymore now. He was already wet to the bone.

"Get out of the rain," Hermione said thinking that he was silly for just standing there.

"What's the point?" he reasoned with her, "Come on." He held a hand out for her to join him.

Hermione didn't take so lightly to the rain. She moved toward him, but she didn't take his hand. She ran out from the porch and made her way immediately toward her counselor cabin. Cormac was right on her heels.

"Close the door," Hermione instructed him as she flipped the light switch on to her cabin.

The door clicked closed and immediately she was caught up in Cormac's arms. Their faces were streaked with rain water and when Cormac twisted Hermione on the spot and pushed her against the far wall of her cabin, droplets of water flicked off of their hair and to the floor. Cormac moved their faces together and he took one of Hermione's hands in each of his own. He lifted them up and above her head. He brought her hands together and gripped both of her tiny wrists in one of his hands.

Hermione pushed her tongue against his lips and Cormac opened his mouth and allowed her to play with his tongue. Cormac's free hand dug for her shirt again, and after a little bit of a struggle, he freed the article of clothing off of her body and up over her head. Cormac continued pressing his body toward hers. He pushed her wrists against the wood of the cabin walls and it hurt her in an exciting way. On a few occasions where Cormac was acting too zealously, she gasped out in slight pain. Cormac took the sounds as motivation to continue.

Cormac released her hands and brought both of his to her face. Hermione didn't hesitate at all. She acted similarly and started to pull at the cotton of his shirt. It didn't take long for Cormac's muscles to be liberated. His wet shirt fell to the ground with a wet plunk. Cormac pulled Hermione close to him and it felt like there was a fever running between their bodies.

Cormac placed his hands below Hermione's waist and with ease he lifted her up to him. She wrapped her legs around him and allowed him to maneuver both of them. Hermione envisioned him moving the two of them to the bed, but he surprised her.

The light to the bathroom flicked on and Cormac deposited her on the sink. He reached into the shower and turned the hot water on. He returned to Hermione. He stood between her legs and she rewrapped her legs around him.

Cormac and Hermione's hands worked quickly to remove the rest of their clothes. Once the whole bathroom was filled with steam, they both were naked and standing. Hermione was the first to act. She dragged the shower curtain to the side, while taking Cormac's hand behind her. She stepped over the side of the bathtub and felt the hot water fall on her already warm skin. She led Cormac. He braced his free hand on the wall of the bathroom as he stepped in behind her.

Cormac was admiring her beauty from behind her. She was slender and toned in just the perfect way. Her brown hair that was completely rain-swept and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Something about the way she was even standing in the shower seemed to leave him lost for words – and Cormac always had something to say.

Hermione was reaching up in front of the shower head testing the water as she attempted to turn the knobs to get the perfect temperature. She was almost done finding the perfect combination of cold and hot water, but Cormac pounced on her.

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to him. Again, their bodies were pressed together. Hermione attempted to protest, but she couldn't get any words out. Still facing away from him, Cormac had his hands all over her.

To start, his lips were poised behind Hermione's ear and was kissing and nibbling on her sensitive skin. Hermione arched her neck to the side to allow Cormac to continue with his actions. One of his hands immediately went up to Hermione's chest and he took a handful of her against the palm of his hands.

Hermione had been proud of how she had developed. She had never been overly-endowed with her front, but she was happy with how she looked. There were girls with bigger chests than her, but Cormac seemed to be contempt with the handful that he had managed. While he started massaging her chest, Cormac's other hand started to tease its way toward the spot where Hermione's legs met. She had no complaints when he became bold enough to find her slit and play with her most sensitive spot.

Hermione's back arched involuntarily as Cormac's hands seemed to make her do that, and when she flexed backwards she felt how excited Cormac was. Her backside brushed up against his very attentive erection. She pushed off of her toes and did her best to relieve some of the pressure on his member. She tried to brush against him as best as she could.

They grinded against each other for a minute, while Cormac's fingers continued their work. Hermione was focusing too hard on trying to make Cormac feel good to be able to reach an orgasm, so she removed Cormac's hands for a moment and turned on her heels to face him. She craned her neck in order to reach his lips which he was happy to accept. At the same time, she reached down with her right hand and placed it on his groin. She did her best to move her fingers over his base and what was just below the base. The feeling of Cormac in her small hand excited her. Cormac moaned against her lips.

After a minute or two of Hermione teasing Cormac's loins, he removed her hand. The water was rushing over their bodies and he was feeling hot from a combination of the hot water and his approaching climax.

"Come here," Cormac said. He wasn't asking her politely. He took her by the hips and placed her where he wanted her. It gave her a jolt of a thrill to be told and placed where to stand.

Cormac moved her to the back of the tub, away from the shower head. She was facing the back wall. Water was spraying on her lower back.

"Put your hands on the wall," Cormac told her. She obeyed and in a moment the water stopped reaching her body. Cormac was standing behind her between the shoulder head and her back.

Hermione looked over her shoulder to see what was happening, and when she did she felt Cormac's fingers enter her. This time he didn't take his approach slowly. He pressed two fingers into her and started quickly thrusting and curling them inside her.

Hermione's fingers gripped against the wall she was holding and she lifted up on her toes as Cormac fingered her.

A long "oh" escaped from her throat and she finished with, "Cormac," in a high, almost-scream.

Cormac didn't stop as she built up to her first orgasm. A second wave of pleasure flooded to her brain and this time a small squeal came out of her once she was coming off of her high.

Before Hermione had a chance to reset her feet firmly on the ground, she felt Cormac's left hand approach her hip from behind. Cormac's right hand was targeting himself at the entrance to Hermione's center. Hermione never had the chance to tell him that she was ready, because the lustful teen couldn't wait another minute.

Hermione had to brace herself a little stronger than she thought she needed to, but Cormac pushed into her. He went as deeply as he could, and to start, Hermione was a little sore, but that feeling was quickly brushed aside as her young insides adapted.

Cormac pushed as far into her as he could while keeping a slow and steady pace. The sound of wet skin slapping together was bouncing off the small bathroom walls. A few times, Cormac drove deeper than Hermione thought she could take. It felt like he was reaching the limit of her body, but she loved the feeling it caused.

Cormac had his left hand rested on Hermione's waist. He used it for leverage to pull himself deeply into the brunette. It took him a moment to find where he wanted his right hand, but when he found where he wanted it, he knew he liked it there. He started by placing the other on her hip as well, but that didn't seem like enough. He tried to lean over her body and grope at her chest again, but that messed up the rhythm of his hips. Lastly, he reached down to Hermione's knotted hair and took a fistful in his hand. Hermione's head snapped backward in compliance. She had heard of hair pulling during sex, but had never experienced it - obviously.

The slight twinge hurt, but it was only a little pain and it seemed like Cormac really enjoyed it. Hermione let him continue. Cormac kept pushing deeply into her. Hermione tried to react to Cormac's movements and started to push back into him when the moment called for it. Soon they were working in perfect harmony.

The shower was still cascading against Cormac's back and Hermione's hands were firmly pressed against the tile wall still and the two were moving quickly. Cormac groaned from behind her.

"Keep going, Cormac," Hermione said through her strained neck as he kept pulling on her locks.

"Fuck," he breathed out in a shallow attempt to motivate himself.

Hermione was up on her toes and her throat let out a tiny yelp as she felt something build inside her.

"I'm going to finish," Cormac exclaimed just as Hermione was about to reach her peak. He pulled out of her and shot his hot ropes on the floor of the bathtub. Three heavy convulsions and several smaller spasms left a mess on the floor, which was being swept away by the shower's water.

"I didn't finish," Hermione said a little deflated. She was on the edge of her first orgasm from sex. She couldn't really complain, because Cormac had taken care of her before he entered her, but the complaint came out nonetheless.

"Well, let me fix that," he said turning her around to face him. He moved quicker than he expected since he had just spent himself, but he reached down between Hermione's legs and found her tiny nub and it wasn't long until Hermione had her mouth left agape for a few seconds while she came against Cormac's hand.

Once Hermione came down from her orgasm and Cormac had removed his hand from where it previously was the two of them just stared at each other for one longing one-millionth of a second before they started to chuckle to each other again. Hermione extended her lips out toward Cormac and kissed him. When she pulled away from kissing him, Cormac brought his hands up and framed her face before dragging his hands to her hairline and down the length of her hair. They shared a smile.

They took their time in the shower as they washed each other. Cormac rubbed soap all over Hermione's body for her while Hermione used too much shampoo in Cormac's hair.

"I'm sorry," she said as soapy suds covered not only Cormac's hair, but his shoulders, forehead, eyebrows and cheeks, "I'm used to using more shampoo."

Cormac shook his head side to side as he tried to help to remove some of the excess suds from his hair. He ended up shaping his hair into a fauxhawk which had both of them laughing. Cormac took the excess from his hair and started blowing the bubbles free from his hands and toward Hermione's face.

After their shower, Hermione turned the knobs of the shower off and the pair of them stepped out. They were both dripping onto the floor. Hermione retrieved the towel she had been using for the week and retrieved her only spare for Cormac. The pair of them dried off in the bathroom and once they were deemed "ready for bed" they shut off the light in the bathroom and stepped into the main room of the cabin.

Hermione only became extra aware that she was naked when they stepped out of the bathroom. She scampered on her tiptoes to her dresser and pulled out a pair of underwear and clothes to sleep in. She gasped out loud when she heard the door open. She brought her hands up to cover herself and she instinctively looked over her shoulder to see if Cormac was in eyesight or if he was quick enough to hide. When she peered over her shoulder he was not there. She brought her eyes to the door way and that's where she found him. He was standing shirtless, with his shorts on and his shoes half on.

"What are you doing?" Hermione said dropping her hands from covering herself up. She was under the impression that they were going to spend the night together.

"I'm going to get some clothes to sleep in and my camp clothes for tomorrow," he said pointing in the direction of his cabin.

"Ok," she said pleased that he was planning on returning. It looked like the rain was still coming down, but not nearly as powerfully as before.

Cormac closed the door and quickly made his way through the rain. Hermione returned to her drawers and smiled to herself. She didn't regret what she did. She liked Cormac and it seemed like he liked her. He was sweet and charming. He was strong and passionate. And she couldn't be completely certain, but she could only guess that he was great at sex.

Hermione couldn't decide on a shirt to sleep in so she grabbed a tank top off the top of her drawers. She put her arms through the sleeve holes and turned back to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, turned off the lights to the bathroom and the main room before she crawled into bed. She pulled the sheets back, fell into bed, set the alarm and waited for Cormac to return. A minute after she was in bed, the door opened. Hermione couldn't mistake Cormac's silhouette by the solar lights from the outdoors. He had a bundle of clothes in his hand.

"Where are you?" Cormac whispered into the dark room. His eyes weren't adjusted to the total darkness in Hermione's cabin.

"In bed," she whispered back to him. The illusion of the lights being off made it seem like they needed to be quiet.

Cormac circled around the bed to "his side". Of course, he didn't actually have a side, but any time that he spent the night he always was closer to the bathroom side of the bed than Hermione. He dropped his pile of clothes right next to the bed and slid under the sheets.

Hermione was already lying on her back with her eyes closed when Cormac came down to join her. As Cormac took his place next to her, he slid in with his nose and lips against the crook of her neck. His left arm went across her body and his hand bent toward her hair. With her eyes still closed, Hermione's arm that was trapped between their bodies snaked out and her hand found his shoulder. She held it.

"Good night," Cormac whispered against her skin before he kissed her neck.

"Good night," she said leaning her lips toward his nose and kissing him. Hermione thought that that was going to be their last interaction before bed, but she was wrong.

She had closed her eyes hoping for sleep to take over her, but she felt Cormac nuzzling against her neck. His lips were trailing on her skin and his left hand was twisting her hair into knots. She smiled with her eyes still closed. Pretty soon his lips weren't just lazily grazing against her skin. It was apparent that he was placing kisses on her neck.

"Cormac," Hermione breathed out slightly annoyed/slightly amused.

"What?" he questioned between kisses.

"Go to sleep," she tried to order him.

"Not yet," he said kissing just behind her ear lobe. At this point, Hermione turned to face the boy, "Just a little longer."

She rolled onto her side and allowed him to continue kissing her. Their tongues danced in the darkness. They rolled around in bed for what could've been half an hour, but Hermione found herself topless and back on top of Cormac. Hermione's knees were on either side of his waist again. As she rested her waist down full on his lap, she felt how hard he was again. That was going to be a turning point in the night.

"Cormac, it's time for bed," Hermione told him. They had already had sex twice and those were her first times. They had work in the morning. And she didn't want to start this precedence.

"Come on, Hermione," Cormac whined.

He couldn't see her stern look in the pitch black.

"Fine," Cormac said disappointed.

Hermione climbed off of him and started feeling around the bed.

"What are you looking for?" he asked her as he lowered his head down to his pillow to sleep.

"The shirt I was wearing," Hermione said, still finding nothing. She was searching with her hands rather than her eyes.

"Here," Cormac said extending an arm to her.

The article of clothing that he handed her was heavier than the tank top that she had previously had on.

"Cormac, this isn't…" she stopped when she realized what she was holding. She pulled what Cormac had handed her up and over her head and took her side of the bed. Cormac draped an arm over her and pulled up against her backside.

"That's a good looking sweater, Granger," Cormac whispered against the back of her neck.

"It's one of my favorites," Hermione said reaching up and taking the hand that was lying across her body in her own hand.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I've been struggling with writer's block :( Enjoy.**

**Chapter 36**

Hermione's alarm sounded a little earlier than normal, but she had no problem waking up. She was feeling more well-rested than normal. She lunged up to flip the alarm off. In order to reach the clock, she had to go over the top of Cormac. He also was feeling refreshed.

"Good morning," Hermione said rolling off of Cormac to get to her feet.

"Morning," Cormac said lifting his body up so that he could rest his back against the headboard of the bed. His attention was in Hermione's direction as she stood up. She looked adorable in her shorts that could barely be seen while she was wearing his Tutshill Tornados sweater.

Hermione circled around and entered the bathroom. They were expected to have their improvised, abridged counselor meeting in ten minutes. She flipped the light on and ran the water to get her toothbrush wet. As she put the bristles against her teeth, Cormac entered the bathroom with no shirt on. Cormac approached behind Hermione wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. Hermione was able to admire his body through his beautiful reflection in the mirror.

Cormac stepped behind Hermione and kiss the crown of her head. Hermione smiled as she continued to scrub her teeth. With a gentle pat, Cormac nudged Hermione to the side so that he could access the sink. He ran the water and cupped his hands together to create a basin so that he could splash some water on his face. Next, he wet his hands and ran them through his hair effortlessly and stepped away looking as good as Hermione had ever seen him.

Hermione bumped Cormac out of the way of the little sink with her hip so that she could spit and rinse. Hermione placed her toothbrush in her holder and turned to escape the bathroom. Cormac was sitting on the side of the bed and putting on a pair of socks. He had already put on his shorts and was still shirtless. Hermione wondered if she could ever get tired of seeing his torso.

Hermione went to her dresser and took out the things that she would need for the day and placed them at the foot of the bed. Even though she and Cormac had completed every level of intimacy the previous day, she did her best to only stand naked for just a moment. Once she had her outfit on she turned around to see if Cormac was ready. He was just gazing in her direction.

Hermione gave him a shy smile, "What?"

"Just looking," he said that as he stood up from the side of the bed with his staff shirt in his hand.

"Just looking at what?" Hermione asked opening her body so that he could walk toward her.

"Just you," Cormac said wrapping an arm around her waist and moving her toward the door.

A delightful pleasantness was in the air. It felt like a new life was beginning. The heat wave was gone, and the normal temperature had returned. The sun was up and the skies were perfectly blue. The smells of a fresh rain were in Hermione's nose.

"Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day," Cormac said stepping behind Hermione.

She nodded in agreement.

The pair of them headed to the amphitheater together. They crossed the paths of several others that were moving slowly from being awakened just a little earlier than the usual schedule. They descended the steps and Hermione sat in the first row. Cormac sat behind her. From where he was sitting, he was leaning over his knees at his elbows and one of his hands rested on the side of Hermione's back. She smiled at his touch.

Mr. Craig greeted his counselors and the meeting was very informal and very quick.

"Thanks for meeting, everybody," Mr. Craig as he dismissed his troops to retrieve their campers to escort them to breakfast.

Cormac and Hermione returned to the cabins walking side by side and there was something in the way that they were walking that seemed to catch peoples' eyes. They weren't saying anything, but their body language and the way that they were looking at each other, led the others to believe that there was a story to be discovered.

Breakfast was the same as always. The menu was delicious, but was beginning to get repetitive for the counselors, but the meal ended the same as always.

In the first lesson of the day, Hermione received a surprise. Hermione had tried to wean the group off of only making friendship bracelets. There were plenty of balls of string left, and they were a favorite activity, but she was worried that the Arts &amp; Crafts period was being transformed into the Friendship-Bracelet-Weaving period.

Hermione came up with the idea of tracing the campers' bodies on giant rolls of paper and have them color themselves in. This new idea was received well. The campers worked to push all the chairs and tables to the side of the room so that large sheets of paper could be rolled out on the floor. Each camper took a turn lying on their back, while one of the counselors or one of the older campers worked to trace the prone body. Each camper took their sheet and used either markers or paints to color themselves inside the lines that were drawn.

Just as the period was coming to an end Hermione was beckoned over by Cormac. Hermione stood up from her knees. She was helping paint a little girl's outline to wear a yellow and purple skirt. Hermione tried to remove some of the paint that had flecked onto her skin as she stood.

"What's up?" Hermione said. She was happy to come see Cormac, but she was also enjoying her painting on the floor.

"I have something for you," Cormac had a very proud smile on his face.

"Yes?" Hermione said with excited eyes.

Cormac extended his hand and revealed a friendship bracelet in the best interpretation of scarlet and gold of Gryffindor. The gesture was very sweet, and the pattern was very simple, but there weren't any mistakes in his craft. Hermione had seen Cormac adorn the wrists of some campers with his early attempts at bracelets, but she hadn't received one yet.

"This is the first one that I made without any fuck ups," Cormac said hoping that she would like it.

The act of gifting her a friendship bracelet wasn't completely ruined with his choice of words. As a matter of fact, it made it more perfect, because only Cormac would be able to use the phrase "fuck up" with bracelet making.

"Cormac, it's perfect," Hermione said holding her wrist out for him to tie it on.

Cormac's hands worked delicately to make sure the string wouldn't fall off, but that it didn't restrict her circulation.

Cormac returned his hands to his lap once a secure knot was cinched. Hermione inspected the craftsmanship. There were only two different colors in a very simple bar pattern, but she had to admit that the work was neat and tight. The ever observant eyes of Hermione Granger were inspecting every tied knot.

"You know," Cormac started, "Just because I'm giving you this doesn't mean that you should start expecting jewelry or anything."

Hermione twisted her face at his attempted "joke".

"Hey, Hermione, come help me finish," the same little girl called to the counselor from the floor.

"Sure thing," Hermione said turning away from Cormac and going back to kneel down next to the girl.

She hadn't explicitly said the words "Thank" and "You" to Cormac and he was a little disappointed. It was silly, because she had said, "It's perfect" which arguably could be better, but Cormac was a little disappointed. But he was only disappointed for a moment.

The little girl was talking at a mile a minute. She was talking about the colors and the outfit that they were drawing and she couldn't keep her attention on one detail, but then the dangling threads from Hermione's wrist caught her attention.

"Oh, that's a really nice one, Hermione," she said dropping her paintbrush and reaching for Hermione's new bracelet.

"Yeah it is," Hermione agreed as the girl grabbed at her wrist, "Cormac made it for me." She looked in his direction and smiled from where she was on the floor.

Cormac returned the smile with his own. A strong sense of pride and accomplishment filled him. It wasn't a sense of accomplishment for "conquering" Hermione, but something else.

Walking back to the cafeteria to return the campers before the second period of the day, Hermione and Cormac were walking side-by-side. They weren't saying anything. They were just enjoying the aura that they were giving to each other. Cormac was half-humming and half-singing to himself:

"I wanna roll around with you in those new, white sheets,  
Dancing around to our own little beat,  
How about you kick off your shoes for two bare feet."

Those were the same lyrics that he was shamelessly lip singing in the truck on their night drive to the petrol station. Hermione cocked an eyebrow in his direction. Cormac was unaware that anyone had heard him. He continued singing the words that he knew. Once they were on the other side of Lower Bridge, he realized that Hermione had noticed that he was slightly swaying his body to the tune as he continued singing.

Still keeping up with the tune of the song, Cormac amended the lyrics:

"I like doing what she likes,  
Staying up late with her nose in her books,  
She doesn't even realize how silly she looks,"

Hermione pulled her hand back and slapped his arm when she realized that he was poking fun at her.

"She loves to smack me in the arm,  
Because she can't seem to get enough of my charm."

"You're an idiot," Hermione told him shaking her head, but with a smile.

Cormac did his best to continue to improvise lines to the song, but it proved too difficult to keep up the charade.

Back in the cafeteria, there was a different buzz than had surrounded camp during the first days of the week. It was Thursday and the session was halfway through and most people normally started to get tired, but there was a new energy with the cooler summer temperatures returning. When it was time to disband to the activities of the day, Hermione was disappointed to see that the Academic Building period was less popular than anticipated. Because the weather had returned to normal, there was a large surge of campers that wanted to attend the football period. This was a double blow to Hermione, because due to the popularity of the football session, Cormac was dragged as extra supervision to the fields.

"No problem, Mr. Craig," Cormac told him when he was asked to assist in his favorite period.

Cormac had been having a serious internal struggle about his second period activity. Yes, he loved being around Hermione. Over the past few weeks, he found her very presence intoxicating - the good and the bad things that came with being in close proximity to her, but he also loved playing football. Being "forced" to the second period football session was a solid excuse to get out on the pitch.

Hermione and Cormac didn't cross paths again until lunchtime and their time in the cafeteria was very brief. Hermione had left the Academic Building period a little early and had been one of the first in line for lunch, but the second football session had run late due to some late heroics from Cormac on the pitch and by the time that Cormac and his faithful followers had trays full of food there were only a few open seats available. The only interaction that the pair had was when Cormac stepped behind Hermione and brushed her back with his hand.

Hermione spun around in her seat and her hair almost whipped a little girl's eye out. Hermione smiled at Cormac and he offered her a little wave, while the group of campers surrounding him continued to replay some of his footballing wizardry.

After a short lunch period, Cormac and Hermione were reunited for the swimming period. Without the devastating heat wave, there was much less incentive to jump into the lake water that most of the campers found a hair too cold, but there were enough lake activities to keep the need to enter the water limited.

There were the usual campers that loved to swim and Eric had no problem rising to the occasion to join them, but then there were the others that tried their hand at fishing, a few liked to wade into the water with nets and catch any critters that dared enter the shallow ends, and then there were those that just enjoyed dangling their feet of the dock.

Cormac and Hermione spent a majority of the session sitting on the dock, even though there were moments when they would need to stand up and untie a pair of anglers who had crossed their lines in the water.

From where they were sitting, there were a few other campers in their immediate area. Among them were Dayton and his little Lady Otter that he had developed a severe crush on. If there was a photographer off to the side and had taken a photo of just those four, it would look like Dayton and Cormac were brothers courting the likes of Hermione and her Lady Otter.

Cormac was leaning back on his palms with his toes barely in the water. Hermione had her knees pulled up to her chest and was facing Cormac.

Cormac was squinting as he turned in Hermione's direction, "How are you doing?"

"Pretty great," Hermione said creating small talk.

"Yeah?" Cormac asked closing one eye due to the shine off the water.

"What about you?" Hermione questioned shielding her eyes with one hand.

"Pretty super," he told her with a smile.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I mean, yesterday was a pretty great day," Cormac paused for a second, "all things considered." He remembered that he had collapsed off of the dock, as well as been tackled off of the path toward the cabins onto a pile of rocks, and dumped on with rain, but somehow those weren't the most emblazoned memories from the previous day.

"Yeah," Hermione said smiling at him.

With Cormac's hand that was closest to Hermione, he moved it closer to her. It was right by one of her heels and he reached out and gently caressed her ankle. His thumb drew tiny circles on her skin. Hermione's eyes moved to his face. He was staring where his thumb was, and when he looked up to see her looking in his direction, he beamed at her.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione sensed that something was racing through his brain.

"Nothing," his lie was painfully apparent.

"Tell me," Hermione said ignoring the word that he had just said.

"It's nothing," Cormac told her. A larger smile was etching on his face.

"It is something," Hermione said. His smile was causing her to smile harder.

Cormac couldn't look at Hermione anymore. He was smiling too wide and he was worried the skin on his lips would rip if he didn't look away from her. He readjusted his weight in the palms of his hands and looked back toward the water.

"Cormac," she jabbed him in the ribs with her toe, "tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," he closed both his eyes as the sun rays fell onto him.

"Boys," Hermione huffed as she turned away from him and crossed her arms. She also closed her eyes and felt the sun warm her. It was pleasant outside and the weather couldn't be any better. Even though Cormac wouldn't confide in her what he was thinking, she could at least enjoy the weather.

She hadn't heard or felt him move. Cormac slowly crawled behind her and put his lips right behind her ear.

"I was just thinking that I really want to do this," his warm words felt even better than the sun. As he finished his last words, he placed a lingering kiss just below her earlobe. It was so soft it could've been mistaken for the gentlest breeze. To anyone else, it looked like Cormac was whispering a secret to Hermione, so it wasn't out of the ordinary, but the kiss was only meant for the two of them.

"Cormac, we did it again," a pair of Ducks said holding up their fishing rods to show two sharp lures wrapped around the other.

"Ok, hold them still," Cormac said standing up from where he was knelt over near Hermione's ear. Their eyes lingered on each other until Cormac was fully on his feet. Cormac eventually untangled the campers' lines and gave them strict instructions to cast in opposite directions- for the third time. When Cormac turned to head back over toward Hermione, he caught sight of Dayton and his little crush.

Hermione was looking in Cormac's direction and she raised her eyebrows at him when he stopped heading in her direction. With just his eyes, Cormac beckoned her toward him. Hermione's focus followed Cormac's line of sight and she smiled when she saw what Cormac was looking at.

"Look at him go," Hermione said once she was standing next to Cormac. The pair of them had left the dock to go stand on some of the grass. They were standing side-by-side with their arms crossed.

"What is her name?" Cormac asked looking in the same direction as Hermione.

"That's Macy Malloy," Hermione told him.

Dayton and Macy were looking off in different directions, but they were holding hands with their feet dangling off the edge of the dock.

"That's my boy," Cormac said with a proud smile on his face.

Cormac and Hermione spent the remainder of the session gossiping and monitoring Dayton and Macy.

"You think she's his girlfriend?" Hermione asked Cormac.

"I have no idea," Cormac told her.

"But they're holding hands," Hermione pointed out to him.

"Yeah, I see that," Cormac said blandly still looking at the two young teens.

"That could be pretty serious at thirteen," Hermione said, "And I think Macy is only twelve."

"Good for Dayton," Cormac smiled, "Robbing the cradle."

Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"God, they're so awkward," Cormac observed. The pair of them was still holding hands, but they weren't saying anything or even looking at each other.

"Stop. They're cute," Hermione smiled.

"I wonder if people are going to start talking about this," Cormac thought out loud.

"It'll be better than them making up rumors about us," Hermione answered without thinking.

"Are people spreading rumors about us?" Cormac questioned.

Hermione was caught off guard, "I have no idea. I can only assume that there are. I don't know. What do you think?" Hermione was trying to test the waters to see what Cormac's actual thoughts were.

"I don't know. I've never been a fan of people knowing my personal business" he paused, "But can you blame them?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we _are _a pretty interesting couple," Hermione looked at Cormac sideways when he said the last word. Cormac quickly added, "couple of people," to the end of his sentence.

Hermione continued to look sideways at him.

"I'm just saying, it's more exciting than some of the usual camp gossip. And besides," he went on, "look at us. Of course people are going to want to talk about us."

Hermione wondered how so much ego could fit in one person.

"Alright everyone, get your towel and put the equipment away," Eric was saying as he waded out of the water. Five minutes later, the group was entering the cafeteria.

Hermione and Cormac walked behind Dayton and Macy. The young pair was still holding hands and didn't drop them until they were inside the cafeteria. The interaction was so painful to watch that Cormac actually winced when he saw it happen. The two campers dropped their hands, waved to each other, and walked to the corner of their next activity.

"Noooooo," Cormac crooned only loud enough so that Hermione could hear him.

Hermione had a smile on her face that she tried to hide. Even though she was half-grinning, she tried to hush Cormac, "Be quiet. They're so young."

"It hurts to watch," Cormac again twisted his face like that interaction caused him physical pain.

"Shhh. You're the worst," Hermione said trying to conceal her smile.

"McLaggen, let's go," Wayne was saying by the group headed out to the courts.

"Alright," Cormac said to Wayne before offering him a rude hand gesture. "I'll see you in a bit," Cormac said reaching out and brushing a strand of hair behind Hermione's ear. Hermione smiled and Cormac winked. Hermione's eyes watched him as he headed right for Dayton and immediately started to tear the mickey out of the poor teenager.

Hermione caught Cormac's eye and she gave him a very stern look. Dayton was starting to turn scarlet. Hermione felt bad for the boy. He was becoming embarrassed. Her look became much darker when Cormac felt her eyes on him.

"What?!" Cormac shouted at her from almost the other end of the cafeteria.

She narrowed her eyes, because she knew that he knew what she was meaning.

"I do it, because I love him!" Cormac said.

"Did Cormac just say he loves you?!" one of the campers standing next to Hermione asked her.

"No, that's not what he said," Hermione assured her.

"I just heard Cormac say that he loves Hermione!" another camper told a group of friend in Hermione's proximity.

"No, he was talking about Dayton," but no one was listening.

And that was how the rumor that Cormac loved Hermione spread through that week's worth of campers.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any ideas to help me kick this writer's block!**

**jrb2009**


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: Hi everyone, I just started a new consulting gig that has me travelling pretty far, so that will give me time to continue writing while on the plane. I consider that good news to me, since this has become something I enjoy doing. I didn't mean for this chapter to turn smutty, but as I started writing, I couldn't stop it. I even tried to fight it, but it felt too natural.**

**Chapter 37**

For the remainder of that day, Hermione had to put up with a lot of juvenile teasing. A good number of campers thought it was comical to see Hermione squirm at the prospect of Cormac falsely confessing his love for Hermione in the cafeteria. When the campers did it, Hermione was able to handle the poking and teasing, but the constant attacks from Naomi Clyne were unbearable.

"Could you pass the flour, Mrs. McLaggen," Naomi asked her during the Cooking session. It was the fifth time that Naomi had used that particular joke within the hour.

Hermione didn't know which fueled Naomi's fire more, ignoring Naomi's comments or getting defensive about them.

Hermione loved Naomi. She was a great friend and confidant, but by the end of the class, she was too eager to get away and let her free time begin. Naomi and Hermione had the Cooking class pack their stations away and wrap their goodies up to be brought back to the amphitheater. The girls led their campers to the seats and people piled in.

All the sessions were ending around the same time, because everyone was filing into the seats of the amphitheater.

"Excuse me," a voice was saying down the steps in Hermione's direction.

"Uh oh, Hermione, here comes your boyfriend," Naomi said loud enough for the members of the Cooking class could hear her.

"I'm not her boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

They said it together. Hermione looked embarrassed that they had said the same thing at the same time. The laughter of everyone around made it worse. Cormac smiled.

"Here, I need you to take a look at something," Cormac said looking down to Hermione. Hermione couldn't get a sense of urgency from his tone, so she slowly stood up and followed Cormac. They were like salmon swimming upstream. The rest of the camp was trying to go down the stairs while they were heading up.

"What do you need me to take a look at?" Hermione asked Cormac. Now, she was curious.

"This," Cormac said once they had reached the top of the amphitheater. They were not sitting in seats, but standing at the very top of the semicircle looking down. Cormac was pointing down at a pair of campers.

Dayton and Macy were sitting together again. They were holding hands like before, but their interaction was completely different. Dayton was talking to her and making Macy laugh.

"Oh good for them," Hermione said with a smile of her own.

"Yeah, right?" Cormac was smiling with a little too much pride on his face. Hermione was concerned.

"What did you say to him?!" Hermione asked.

"I told him to act like an asshole," Cormac said flatly.

"Cormac!" Hermione had the urge to stomp on his foot.

"I'm kidding," Cormac had a deflated look on his face, "Do you have no faith in me at all?"

"Can you blame me?" Hermione asked with a sparkle of impish playfulness in her eye.

"Watch it," Cormac pointed a finger in her face with an attempt at fake intimidation.

"Or else what?" Hermione said with a smile.

"You'll find out," Cormac said with a knowing smile.

Hermione dropped that topic - it would come up again, "So what did you tell him?"

"He just needed some confidence," Cormac was looking down at his little protégé happily.

"Yeah," Hermione absent-mindedly agreed.

"You know, he's buying low too," Cormac said nodding to himself staring in the direction of the two campers.

"What does that mean?" Hermione had never heard that phrase before.

"Macy is going to be a cute girl," Cormac said. It sounded like he had deliberated this before.

"Excuse me?" Hermione questioned. Her face twisted in an odd way at his comment.

"Not in a weird way. Look at her. She is still slightly awkward, because she's twelve, and she has braces, but those will come off. If you look at her, she has some solid potential. Good for Dayton," Cormac seemed pleased with his analysis.

"So he's getting the girl before she really blossoms?" Hermione thought that the whole idea was ridiculous.

"It's a thing," Cormac assured her, "I tried to buy low once."

"Yeah and what happened?" Hermione asked.

"She barely noticed I existed," Cormac told her.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione continued softly. At this point, Mr. Craig was addressing the camp.

"Yeah," Cormac admitted.

"And why's that?" Hermione couldn't imagine a world where Cormac could go 'barely noticed'.

"I guess at that point I flirted as well as Dayton, but I didn't have anyone to steer me in the right direction," Cormac confessed honestly, but then changed his tone, "Someone tall and handsome, and a real charmer with the ladies." At these words, he seemed to stand a little straighter and puff his chest out a little.

"Well, I'm sorry that that didn't work out. She must be very oblivious," Hermione added out of the side of her mouth.

Cormac scoffed once, "Yeah, I doubt anyone that knows her would say that."

"Then what happened?" Hermione asked. She was now pretty curious.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't buy low, so I had to go with a different approach," Cormac explained.

"Yeah?" Hermione wanted to know more.

"Yeah, I had to go with the 'long con' approach," Cormac told her.

"What does that mean?" none of the words that Mr. Craig was saying were sticking with either of them.

"It took me a lot longer than I thought, but I think I got her to come around," Cormac turned his head to look at Hermione. She turned her attention to the boy on her right.

"What happened to this girl?" Hermione had an idea.

"My hunch about her being a late bloomer was right. She blossomed," Cormac said without dropping his gaze from Hermione.

"And where is she now?" Hermione asked. At this time, people were standing up and heading to exit out of the amphitheater, because Mr. Craig was in the process of dismissing everyone.

"She's around," Cormac told her, half-present. The meaning of his words sunk into her brain.

"What are you doing right now?" Hermione asked Cormac as several campers excused themselves between the pair so that they could head to the cabins or the camp store.

"Nothing. What are you doing?" Cormac asked her above the heads of the campers that were squeezing past them.

"I want to show you something," Hermione told him. She reached out and took his hand. He knew to follow her. They didn't hold hands for very long. Hermione only grabbed his hand for long enough so that he knew to follow her.

Hermione led the pair of them right to her cabin. Cormac slammed the door closed behind them and he turned around to find where Hermione had gotten off to in the small room. If he had turned around a little quicker, he would've knocked her over. After his initial shock of seeing Hermione so close to him, Cormac tilted his head forward to kiss her. He tried to move slowly, but Hermione reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her.

Cormac placed his hands on Hermione's waist and lifted her like a feather. Hermione's legs encircled Cormac's waist and he carried the pair of them toward the bed. Gently, Cormac laid Hermione down and he slowly brought his weight down on top of her. Once he had safely returned Hermione to the bed, Cormac brought his lips down to hers a little roughly. Hermione reacted by taking her fingernails to Cormac's back. She couldn't claw into him because he still had his staff shirt on. That didn't last for very long.

The pair of teenagers started grabbing onto clothing in their haste. Hermione had balled Cormac's shirt just above his ribs, and he sat up on his knees to pull the fabric up and over his head. Hermione had the chance to take one peek at his muscular physique, and as always, it seemed to be unreal. Cormac brought his warm body back on top of Hermione's. As he went to kiss her, he pushed his tongue into her mouth. Hermione loved the feeling of being wanted. She enjoyed knowing that Cormac felt so strongly about her. Her mind started drifting back to their conversation at the top of the steps at the amphitheater and Hermione couldn't be certain, but she was pretty sure that she was the girl that he was referring to. Thinking about that warmed her core. She kissed him with more passion and started grabbing at the skin on his sides.

Cormac rested his body completely on Hermione's as he was moving his body against hers. He was so worked up that he needed some mild stimulation on his lower member. His hips rested against Hermione's upper thigh. In response, Hermione curled her fingertips against Cormac's skin a little harder than she had anticipated. He groaned a little when he felt Hermione's scratch against his ribs. He had to pull away from Hermione's lips to tilt his head down to see if she had broken his skin.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked him.

He looked down and his skin was red, but he wasn't bleeding. Rather than returning back to Hermione's lips, he dove down to her neck. Cormac kissed every inch that he could. Hermione's scent enticed him to continue. The combination of her natural smells and sweat from the day had his primitive instincts working on overdrive.

Hermione closed her eyes again as Cormac's lips hungrily worked on her exposed skin. Hermione was experiencing so much bliss with Cormac's kisses that she didn't even realize that he was snaking his hand between her thighs. Hermione became fully aware of what he was doing when his fingers grazed against her most sensitive skin. Hermione took a sharp intake of breath when she felt him. It was a gasp of surprise.

Cormac removed his lips from the side of Hermione's neck and went back to her lips. As he repositioned his mouth to come in contact with hers, he readjusted the rest of his weight so that he could get at an angle that would allow his hands the most leverage possible. Cormac's lips came down fiercely which Hermione was prepared for. She was looking for the same things. Half a moment after Cormac initiated kissing Hermione, two fingers pushed into Hermione.

As Cormac's fingers slowly pressed toward her core, Hermione couldn't stop her body from making one rocking, undulating motion in anticipation. Cormac understood this to be a good sign and he abandoned his efforts to move slowly. The fiery passion came back and he started to work his hands quickly. Hermione removed her hands from Cormac's side as he sat his weight up a little higher to get the position that he needed to bring Hermione to her climax. Since she couldn't grasp onto Cormac while he leaned over her body, she gripped onto the covers of the bed. Hermione's face twisted and her mouth was left slightly opened as Cormac built her up. It wasn't long until her brain was flooded with the endorphins and other chemicals that sent her over.

Cormac smiled as he watched Hermione's face brighten as the teenage girl was able to control her body completely again. Cormac enjoyed just how beautiful she looked. He always thought she was pretty, but he could really appreciate her in that moment.

"What?" Hermione said feeling shy and uncoordinated.

"Nothing," Cormac said. His moment for appreciating her beauty had gone. The primal monster inside had emerged again.

Cormac's hands started gripping onto all remaining articles of clothing and after a series of rolling around on the bed and flipping Hermione to where he wanted her, the pair of them were laying on the sheets with nothing between their bodies. Hermione was being pressed into the mattress of the bed with Cormac's weight on top of her. He was just working on kicking off his socks.

When Cormac brought his attention back to Hermione, he was lost in her beauty again as she was resting there smiling back at him. Cormac beamed. In his best effort to move quickly, but completely in control, Cormac slipped one hand behind Hermione's upper shoulder. He lifted her up and moved his body under hers. He made it look easy to wrestle Hermione to rest on top of him. Hermione giggled whenever Cormac was able to muscle her around. Again, she was resting on top of him with her knees on either side of his hips.

Hermione had to prop herself up and readjust her hair that had made its way to her front wildly. From on her knees, Hermione used a spare hair tie on her wrist to tame her mane. When she released her hair, it was resting in a simple ponytail. Cormac was looking up at Hermione's naked figure. He was idly resting his hands on her thighs. Hermione took a moment to look down at the boy underneath her. Hermione leaned forward and placed her hands on Cormac's lowest set of abdominal muscles. As she pressed more weight on him low torso, he flexed even harder. They both loved how it felt. Hermione's little hands were so close to where Cormac wanted them to rest, and Hermione could feel Cormac's rock hard muscles.

Hermione bit her lip for a second when she dared break eye contact with Cormac to allow her eyes to explore the rest of his body. She was granted a small window of time to view what she wanted to, before Cormac couldn't wait any longer.

Cormac bucked his hips forward and Hermione was forced forward. With one hand, Cormac caught Hermione behind the neck and pulled her in for a strong kiss. Hermione had one hand posted on the bed by Cormac's neck to support the weight that wasn't on her knees and her other hand tried to hold her ponytail from coming between their faces.

Hermione pushed her tongue against Cormac's lips and he flicked his out to meet her. Their heads twisted side to side as they explored each other's mouths. Hermione could feel Cormac's hardness pressing against where her legs came together. While Cormac had one hand trapping her neck to keep her lips pressed against him, his other hand had worked onto himself and he was doing his best to angle his erection into Hermione's tightness. Cormac was having difficulty moving himself into the girl on top of him. It required Hermione's intervention.

Without a word, Hermione fought off Cormac's hand around her neck and was able to lift herself onto her knees. Cormac stopped his movements to see what she was doing. He was worried that they were going to come to a conclusion. Hermione reached behind her and took Cormac's firmness in her hand. As she blindly reached behind her, the outside of her hand brushed against his tip. A slick and sticky drop of liquid attached itself to the side of her hand. She retracted her hand immediately. She was taken by surprise.

"You ok?" Cormac asked her, unsure of what her reaction signaled.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hermione said composing herself. She thought she did a good job keeping from acting surprised, but Cormac was watching her too closely. Hermione reached back blindly again and took Cormac full in her hand. Accidentally, she smeared some of his precum around the tip of Cormac's most sensitive skin. She had her left hand resting on the same spot on Cormac's abdomen. She was gently grazing his skin and moving her body in a fashion that she assumed was sexy. Her right hand was reaching behind her as her slightly, slickened hand blindly fumbled on Cormac's rod.

Cormac's eyes were not the normal cheerful, charismatic eyes that she had become accustomed with over the past few weeks. Now, they were animalistic and instinctual. Hermione dragged her fingernails tantalizingly over Cormac's lowest stomach muscles. Cormac bit his lip in response, and then decided that he needed to be in her.

Again, he bucked his hips forward. Both of Hermione's hands had to catch her weight against the bed to keep her balance. Cormac moved quickly to take himself in his hand. With the palm of his hand, he spread some of his natural lubricant around his tip and positioned himself at Hermione's entrance. Hermione had frozen when she felt Cormac's hardness at her entrance. Cormac hesitated for one long second, and when he didn't hear any objections, he lifted his hips into her a little slower.

Hermione was grateful that Cormac moved slowly. There was a little resistance at the initial moments of their intercourse and Hermione was required to ease her hips down onto Cormac, but he was completely inside her. Cormac was as deep as he could be in Hermione. He didn't want to move without Hermione's permission. She was pleased that he gave her inexperienced body a moment to adjust to the invasion of Cormac.

After a few seconds, Hermione allowed Cormac to know that she was comfortable by sitting up and lifting her hips off of him. It was an awkward movement for Hermione at first, but she quickly understood the basic mechanics of the movement. Still on her knees straddling Cormac's waist, Hermione lifted up and dropped back down to Cormac's lap. The sensation that was building inside her was incredible. Cormac had no complaints either. He was vastly enjoying himself. At first, he was amused to watch Hermione's expression as she tried to work through the steps she needed to follow to lift herself up and then back down, but he got lost in the sensations that Hermione was sending through his body after a few full strokes.

Hermione reached down to just under Cormac's chest. She used her anchors on his body to better leverage her hips. She found a pace that seemed reasonable for Cormac as his eyes had something deeper coming through, but she worked her best to continue Cormac's deepness to hit her in one specific spot. Hermione continued to bounce on Cormac's lap and could feel her excitement building. She had lost track of Cormac as a person, and could only feel the pleasure he was giving her. He was something in her that caused her core to rise and her chest to heave as her breath got faster.

She was just approaching her climax, but Cormac used his hands to remove her from on top of him.

"Nooo," Hermione whined. She tried to fight off his hands that were still on her hips. She needed to climb back on top of him to reach what she was waiting for.

"Hold on," Cormac said catching his breath. He needed a minute to recompose himself, or their afternoon would be done.

"No," Hermione said one time, very disappointed.

"Come here," Cormac said flipping up to his knees. He was dragging Hermione by her hips toward him.

Hermione was lying on her back. She moved to sit up, but Cormac put his hand on her shoulder and left her flat. Hermione's feet were resting up by her bottom, and her knees were up in the air. Cormac rolled over from being on his back to all fours in front of Hermione.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked. She was out of her element.

"Don't worry," Cormac said before he moved his face toward the spot where Hermione's legs met.

Cormac kissed around the inside of her thighs for a moment, and then did something that Hermione was not expecting. He kissed right along her slit. Feeling that for the first time was a weird sensation, but Hermione's opinion on that would change quickly.

Hermione thought that she blacked out for a moment, but she did her best to remain in the present. Cormac took one hand and placed two fingers back inside Hermione's intimate core. She was excited for Cormac to finger her. She had grown to love it, but when he brought his lips down onto her clit, she thought she had died. Hermione tried to stay in the moment, but her mind felt like it was splitting in two.

Cormac's combination of licking and flicking Hermione's clit with his tongue while he drove his two fingers inside her, had Hermione orgasm twice before she knew what had hit her. When her second orgasm ripped through her body, she screamed a sound that couldn't be described as anything but pure bliss.

Cormac sat up and took the back of one hand and wiped away at his mouth.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Oh my god, yes," Hermione said. She had strands of her hair that had escaped her ponytail on her forehead.

"Come here," Cormac said with a guttural tone.

Hermione thought that it was a command to give him a kiss. She sat up and tried to crawl toward him. She moved too slowly, and she was assuming the wrong command.

Cormac had stood up off of the bed and as Hermione crawled toward him, his noticeably large erection was perfectly at eye level with her. For the first time, she was a little nervous. For some reason with him standing there, and her on all fours on the bed, he seemed much more intimidating.

Cormac could see something on Hermione's face, "Scared, Granger?"

"No," her facial expression betrayed her. This encouraged Cormac for some reason.

"Come here," he repeated. Hermione didn't need to be told what to do, because Cormac used his strength to put here right where he wanted her.

Cormac placed both his hands on Hermione's hips and twisted her around so she rested on her back again. With his hands still on her hips, Cormac dragged her on the bed so that her hips were the last part of her body supported by the surface. Hermione's legs would've dangled off the edge of the piece of furniture, but her legs were supported in the air with her legs resting against Cormac's body. Hermione was being moved around so roughly and quickly that she had very little time to even understand how she was laying.

There was no warning for Hermione. With Hermione's legs together and her ankles by Cormac's ears, Cormac reinserted himself again. His pace was not slow and gentle to start. His teenage libido was in full force and he was looking for his release. Hermione's mind was completely ready to receive Cormac, and so was her young body.

Cormac drove into Hermione as deeply as he could. Cormac used a few deep quick thrusts with a short pause. This was his pattern for a few pleasurable moments. Hermione was still lying on her back and could feel her whole body jolt every time Cormac buried himself as far into her as he could. Each time he pushed into her with his maximum effort, Hermione worried that he was going to break her, just as he entered her as far as he could.

Cormac was standing and pushing off the floor to help him dive into Hermione. Their bodies were colliding together in their combined ecstasy. Hermione was starting to let small squeaks escape her lips as Cormac continued his repetitive depth. Hermione's body was responding again and she could feel something exciting growing in her core. She reached down with her hands and tried to grasp onto Cormac's thighs. She couldn't reach his legs when he pulled out of her, so instead, Hermione thought it would be a good idea to move her hands up in her hair for something to grab onto.

Cormac looked down at the girl as her body seemed to writhe uncontrollably. When Hermione moved her hands to her hair in a sexy manner and seemed to be at a loss of words, he found himself approaching the edge. When Cormac would normally slow his pace, Hermione noticed that he just continued his hips thrusting into her. Cormac was breathing harder and he had a few grunts of effort escape his throat as he continued.

Hermione didn't reach her orgasm, but Cormac did. Without a moment to spare, Cormac removed himself from Hermione and watched as his seed landed on Hermione's lower abdomen. The first few hot ropes reached above Hermione's belly button, but the later, secondary waves saw his liquid pool on Hermione's waistline.

Cormac had expended most of his energy in those minutes. With the most effort, he moved Hermione's legs so that they were supported by the bed and then Cormac crumpled on the surface next to her.

Cormac was spent and Hermione was still feeling like she needed a little more special attention.

"Cormac," Hermione said wriggling her body close to him.

"Yeah?" Cormac was breathing heavily with his eyes closed.

"I still need," she paused, "something."

"You didn't get off just now?" he was mildly offended.

Hermione didn't say anything. She just shook her head side-to-side

Cormac exhaled deeply, "Normally, I wouldn't stand for that, but you just wore me out."

Hermione pouted. Cormac opened his eyes and saw just how cute she looked.

Something came to his mind, "Well, you can do it yourself if you want."

Hermione actually thought about it for a minute before she responded, "I don't think so."

"Maybe some other time," Cormac told her as he sat up feeling some energy return to his body.

Cormac retrieved spare toilet tissue from the bathroom and helped clean up the mess he had made. After they had disposed of everything, the pair of them laid in bed for the remainder of their free time before dinner.

**A/N: Was this smut forced, or was I right that it felt pretty natural as the story progressed? Also, thanks to some of you that have put in some suggestions on where the story should go. Two in particular: Cormac and Hermione being asked to keep their PDA away from the campers by the Camp Director, and the possibility of Ron and/or Harry showing up (even though realistically I doubt that the Dursley's would let Harry out, unless he went to stay with Ron at the Burrow, which could happen. And then there is the question of why would Ron and Harry show up at Camp Craig, and then the writer's question of how would Ron feel about Hermione and Cormac's semi-obvious relationship. So many questions for me to answer... but I'm only thinking outloud). Anyways thanks for helping stir up the pot a little and let me know what you think about the smut.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

Friday morning Hermione and Cormac woke up. Unfortunately, they did not wake up in the same bed. Just as Cormac and Hermione were ready to lay down in Hermione's bed the previous night, a quiet knock came on the door. One of the Lady Otters had a question for Hermione. When the little girl noticed that Cormac was in the room, she couldn't help but ask.

"What is Cormac doing here?" the camper asked peeking behind Hermione's body.

Hermione had to pause for a second to think of a good enough lie, "Cormac needed to borrow some toothpaste."

Cormac stood up from his seated position on the bed, "Yeah." He agreed.

"He is going back to his cabin now," Hermione told the little girl while Hermione made a quick motion with her head to send Cormac on his way.

"Now?" Cormac asked. After waiting a second, he started moving his feet in the direction of his cabin. Cormac squeezed past the two girls and headed out the door, "Thanks for the toothpaste, Granger."

"No problem," Hermione said waving goodnight to Cormac before she took the little camper's inquiry.

Friday morning, Cormac stood up from his bed and stretched. He yawned and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He swore and then made his way to the bathroom. After a quick shower, Cormac got dressed in his usual camp attire. When he stepped outside, it looked like a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and he couldn't remember being happier. Cormac made his way to the Hares' cabin and pushed the door open.

"Alright, breakfast. Let's go," he held the door opened and all of his campers piled outside.

"Ready for tomorrow?" Dayton was the last camper to exit the cabin.

"What's tomorrow?" Cormac asked.

"Who are you and what have you done with Cormac McLaggen?!" Dayton almost couldn't believe his ears.

Cormac looked at Dayton with general confusion.

"Camp Cup?" Dayton said blandly, "Remember?"

"Oh wow." How could Cormac forget?

He had been so wrapped up with Hermione Granger over the past week that he had forgotten about the Camp Cup. Normally around Wednesday, Cormac would be preparing mentally. Cormac and Dayton spent the rest of the walk to the cafeteria going over strategy for their different competitions. The majority of the conversation circled the topic of the football match.

During breakfast, Cormac and Dayton only stopped the conversation of the Camp Cup to quickly shovel their food into their mouths. They were trying to figure out the best formation for Camp Craig with the personnel of that week. It was safe to assume that the rest of Cormac's day was mostly consumed with the prospect of the Camp Cup. Cormac was present at the rest of his sessions with Hermione, but the majority of his mind was fueled toward how to maintain the Camp Cup at Camp Craig.

Dayton tagged along to Arts and Crafts where he and Cormac continued their conversation in a quiet corner of the Arts and Crafts building. During the second session of the day, where Hermione turned everyone loose for free writing again, Cormac was busily jotting notes in his journal. When Hermione suggested that he shared what he wrote with the group, his response disappointed her. It was hard to expect him to write heartfelt meaningful literature for her every day, but it was deflating when he responded that he hadn't even taken the assignment the slightest bit seriously.

"No, I didn't write anything," Cormac turned the page he was working on so that Hermione could see what he had been writing, "This is the best lineup that I can think of for the football match."

Hermione rolled her eyes and moved her attention on to someone else.

Hermione would remain disappointed for the rest of the day, as she seemed to take a backseat to Cormac's obsession with competition and winning. Hermione found that she was spending her time with the likes of Wayne and Naomi, as well as finding pockets of time with Nicky. She realized that while she was missing Cormac's neglectful behavior, she had also been neglecting spending time with her other friends.

At the end of the counselors' meeting Friday, Mr. Craig encouraged his staff to get a good night's sleep and rest up for the competition the following day. The prospect of winning three Camp Cups in a row was tantalizingly sweet.

"Hey, Hermione," Cormac's cool voice came from behind her as they were walking up the steps to the amphitheater.

"Who me?" Hermione didn't mean to sound passive aggressive, but she couldn't hide her tone.

"I'm sorry?" Cormac was taken aback, "Did I do something to you?"

"No, you didn't do anything," Hermione waited a second. Cormac didn't say anything back, "You didn't do anything to me all day."

Cormac didn't pick up on the double meaning of her words, "Ok, cool. Should I swing by your cabin in fifteen minutes?" He smiled brightly at her.

"No, I promised Naomi and Wayne that I would hang out with them tonight. Maybe tomorrow?" Again, she didn't mean to sound passive aggressive, but it came across that way to Cormac.

"Ok," he was still slightly confused, "Good night."

"Good night." Hermione speeded up her walk to reach Naomi and Wayne.

"That's ok. I need to sleep anyways," Cormac said to himself.

Hermione had a lot of fun staying up with Naomi and Wayne. She needed to catch up with them. It had been a while since she was able to spend any alone time with just the two of them.

"So what about you and Cormac?" Naomi couldn't help but blurt out the words.

"Not tonight, Naomi," Hermione said for a second time.

After that Wayne did a good job keeping Naomi off the topic of Cormac. Around midnight, Hermione left the two to fall asleep in Naomi's cabin.

"I'll see you guys in the morning," Hermione said as she closed the door behind her.

Hermione headed down the path to her cabin and half expected to see Cormac there, but she was disappointed. She finished her usual ritual before falling asleep and crawled in bed before her sleepiness took over her.

On Saturday morning, Cormac woke up one minute before his alarm sounded. He laid where he was and just started at the digital clock until the minute ticked over. He shut off the alarm and stood up from the bed. He stretched his arms as he was overtaken by the urge to yawn. He wiped at his eyes as he made his way into the bathroom before using his choicest swear word to acknowledge the morning. He got dressed after his shower and hung his head over the sink. He was resting some of his weight through the palms of his hands that framed the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror, not in the normal vain way that he would, but he was looking to make sure he was ready for the day of competition.

He thought about it as he walked to his cabin alone the night before, but this would be the first time that Cormac would see Brenden and Ryan since the following weekend. Cormac stared at himself in the mirror while he tried to imagine different scenarios throughout the day. Playing hard against the boys on the basketball court, or in the volleyball sand pits. Going in for a hard tackle against Ryan on the pitch-maybe one that really hurt him- flashed in the foreground of Cormac's mind. Even seeing them at a water fountain, might be enough to make Cormac's blood boil. Cormac really didn't want to lose to those scumbags, but he was more worried that he was going to kill one of them. The pleasant thought of hexing Brenden and punching Ryan in the face seemed particularly delightful.

Cormac shook the bad mojo from his head. He took a deep breath and exhaled all of his negativity. "Time to compete," he told his reflection as an equally handsome teenage boy stared back at him.

Cormac entered his main room and put on his outfit for the day. Camp Craig t-shirt, favorite shorts, socks and trainers. Cormac stepped outside and stretched his neck side to side as he closed his eyes and felt the sun warm his skin. Nothing excited the boy like competition.

"Good morning," Cormac said when he opened his eyes to see a particular brunette approaching the fork that would lead some of the counselors' cabins to the campers' cabins. Hermione seemed to skip behind the nearest building to avoid Cormac.

Maybe there was one thing that excited Cormac more than competition.

Cormac took off at a jog around the corner that Hermione had just slunk behind, and he caught up to her. She didn't seem surprised to see him when he ran alongside of her.

"I said, 'good morning,'" Cormac restated as he gently tugged on Hermione's upper arm.

"I heard you," Hermione said refusing to turn to face him.

"Hey," Cormac said stopping his movements, but still holding Hermione, that caused her to halt in her tracks as well.

Now Hermione turned to face him, because she was forced to.

"What, Cormac?" Hermione seemed to be losing patience with the boy.

"What did I do?" he questioned Hermione.

"What do you think you did?" Hermione seemed very blunt with her words.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking," Cormac told her, getting frustrated at their poor communication.

"Recently, we shared something very special. Something that I thought would mean something to you - it meant a lot to me." Cormac was intently listening to each of Hermione's words, "And I don't know," she paused, "Maybe I was expecting too much, but yesterday I didn't feel the same affection that I thought I would deserve." Hermione continued speaking, but rather than forming coherent thoughts, she was rambling. The things that had annoyed her about Cormac's indifferent and neglect from the day before spewed out of her mouth like word vomit. Her tone was becoming razzled.

Cormac stopped her. He didn't hold up a hand to silence her. He didn't talk over her bumbling words. He tenderly brought a knuckle of his right hand under Hermione's chin and tilted it toward him so that he could kiss her. The kiss almost knocked Hermione over. She was out of breath from talking so much and then the handsome counselor was kissing her.

"I'm sorry," he said plainly, "that was not right of me." As he pulled away from her lips, he placed a strand of her hair behind her ear. He kissed her forehead, "You know that you're special to me."

Hermione remembered that she was standing in the middle of the opening of the Lower Bridge cabins. When Hermione looked around, there were more eyes staring in her direction than she had ever had on her at once while at Camp Craig. About half the cabins were in the open walking toward the cafeteria for the morning, and the early spectacle of their short kiss was the sign of an interesting start to the Camp Cup.

Hermione's face immediately turned to a scarlet red.

She looked at the boy, "Cormac…"

"I don't care," he shrugged his shoulders. His eyes didn't wander to the watchers by.

Hermione looked at him with her eyes wide and her cheeks noticeably red.

Cormac chuckled to himself as he looked down at Hermione's amazed expression, "I'll see you in the dining hall in a bit." He turned on the spot and headed to the Hares' cabin. A small grin was expanding across his face uncontrollably.

Hermione's feet carried her everywhere that she needed to go. She picked up her campers, silently led them across Lower Bridge and into the cafeteria. She realized that she had been moving only through muscle memory when she noticed that she was standing in the dining hall with almost fifty pairs of eyes on her. If people weren't talking about Hermione and Cormac before, now they were.

"Did you see?"

"Did you hear?"

"I thought…"

Hermione tried to slouch a little as she approached the food line. That had no effect to keep the feeling of the topic of conversation away from her and Cormac. Hermione brought her tray with food back to the sitting area and found a table where most of her Lady Otters were seated. Hermione sat down with them and did her best to draw no attention to herself. Even acting as inconspicuous as possible, she could still feel most people looking in her direction and whispering. Hermione didn't know if it was advisable or not, but she dared venture a look in Cormac's direction. He appeared completely unfazed. It was just another Camp Cup morning for him.

Hermione seemed to lose her appetite. She was never one for the spotlight, even though she often found herself in the center of attention. Being top of the class often brought a lot of attention to herself, as well as being known as somewhat of an unsung hero in the Wizarding World by extension of the great Harry Potter.

"Alright, Camp Adventure should be here any minute," Mr. Craig announced to the room at large, "We should make it to the Amphitheater."

It was the third week of camp and the third competition for the Camp Cup. There was normally a rotating schedule for which camp hosted the event, but due to the unusable state of the Camp Adventure facilities the week before, Camp Adventure would be hosting the third straight competition.

Hermione led her Lady Otters to the seats of the amphitheater. They were among the first to arrive from Camp Craig so they were deposited on the lowest row of seats.

"Keep moving down," someone was instructing a boy that was going to take a seat in the second row. The camper obeyed the command and continued shimming down until he was all the way at the edge. A group of campers followed.

"Hey," Cormac's voice addressed the back of Hermione's head.

"Hi," she said turning around sharply to face him.

Cormac leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Again, he reached out with a hand and caressed Hermione's side. He looked down in Hermione's direction with a crooked smile. Hermione thought that she was going to turn red in embarrassment again, but as she looked into Cormac's eyes, she had no idea what she was supposed to be embarrassed about. She beamed back at him.

Cormac reached up with one of his hands and brushed the tip of his thumb against Hermione's cheek before he sat upright to yell at one of his campers to sit still.

A few minutes later, the first wave of Camp Adventure campers were running down the steps of the Amphitheater. Hermione was facing forward toward the stage that held Mr. and Mrs. Craig, a microphone, and the chart with the activities and blank scores. Cormac was leaning over his knees again twirling a finger secretively against Hermione's t-shirt. His chin was almost resting on the top of her head. He could smell her shampoo and it made him think of their showers in her bathroom. Both of them snapped their heads around when Mr. Craig spoke.

"Ah, Ryan, my favorite nephew," Mr. Craig was waving enthusiastically from the stage.

Hermione and Cormac caught Ryan waving with a smile to his uncle, but then the teen's eyes scanned around the rest of the crowd and his eyes met with Hermione's first, then Cormac's. Brenden Fonte was standing right behind Ryan.

The moment Hermione's eyes met with both those boys, her eyes shot back forward and to the ground in front of her. Cormac instinctively squeezed her by the upper shoulder. He wasn't looking where his hand was, because he had narrowed his eyes in the direction of the two people he seemed to hate most. Cormac was amazed to see that both the teens had the audacity to look him back in the eyes, let alone seem to stare back at him with the same amount of loathing. The eye contact was fierce and heated. Ryan and Brenden took seats five or six rows behind where Hermione and Cormac were seated on the opposite side of the aisle.

Cormac turned his attention away from the boys, "Are you ok?" He had whispered the words in Hermione's ear.

She didn't speak. She just continued to look down five feet in front of her and nod. Cormac left one hand squeezing Hermione's shoulder, and his other stroked her back privately.

Mr. Craig led the day off with a few quick words before he dismissed everyone for their different activities.

"Let's get to it." And the third Camp Cup was underway.

At the conclusion of the first rounds of activities, Hermione had hoped that the rest of Camp Craig had put together a more competitive showing than she had amassed. Even though the Academic Building period was meant to be a fun, interactive, learning experience with a slight emphasis on learning, Hermione realized that a week completely dedicated to different literary devices and themes was not an adequate way to refresh the campers' minds of everything they would need for a few rounds of Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit. Camp Craig was swept in both games. Hermione was ashamed to report the results to Mr. and Mrs. Craig in the cafeteria.

Mr. Craig seemed to cringe when he heard what Hermione reported to him.

"I was really hoping for those points," he said as he took a dry-erase marker to the board. Camp Craig was almost being shutout for points.

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed when her eyes followed Mr. Craig's marker to the board and she saw the score.

The only points that Camp Craig had accumulated were in the Swimming relay, and Basketball.

"I know. Not a good day for us," Mr. Craig said putting the cap back on his marker.

There were a few more scores that needed to be reported, but it looked like Camp Adventure had achieved a runaway victory going into the final camp All-Star football match.

Hermione scanned the room and found who she was looking for.

"What happened?" Hermione asked in the direction of Wayne and Cormac.

Cormac was slouched in his chair pushing some food around his plate.

Wayne refused to say anything on the subject, "Ask him." He pointed a thumb in Cormac's direction.

"Piss off," Cormac said to Wayne without picking his head up from the food he was moving around.

"What does he mean?" Hermione asked Cormac more directly. The 'he' she was referring to was Wayne. She wasn't scolding Cormac. She was curious to see what happened.

"What did you do?!" Nicky came over from the scoreboard, where she had been talking with Mrs. Craig.

"Get off it, Nick. You already know," Cormac said flicking a pea off of his plate with his fork.

"What did he do?" Hermione said turning to Nicky.

"He got banned from competing today," Nicky said looking at Cormac like he was an imbecile.

"What'd you do?" Hermione asked looking at Cormac.

Nicky spoke, "What do you think he did? The idiot got into a fight."

"With who?" Hermione asked still looking in Cormac's direction.

"Brenden Fonte," Nicky responded.

"It's incredible. He gets all the words out without even moving his mouth," Naomi Clyne said carrying over her own tray to join the group of counselors. She was making an ill-timed joke about Nicky answering everything while Hermione appeared to address Cormac.

"My question for you," Nicky was looking for a response from Cormac now, "is what did he do to warrant you trying to attack him?"

Cormac looked up at Hermione. They had a silent conversation with only their eyes. With just one look, Cormac conveyed to Hermione that Brenden had done something to provoke him, and the topic of that provocation had been the prior weekend. Cormac couldn't say anything to anyone about what Brenden said without embarrassing Hermione and creating an uncomfortable amount of drama.

"He didn't do anything," Cormac said straight-faced, "I'm just an idiot." He exhaled. "Besides I didn't even get to hit him. Wayne tackled me before I could really get my hands on him."

Cormac and Wayne gave everyone the details. The incident happened at the volleyball courts. Cormac left out the comments that Brenden had made about Hermione, but apparently that sent Cormac over the edge. Wayne witnessed as Cormac appeared to ball up his fists and make a short step toward Brenden. Wayne reacted as quickly as he could and tackled Cormac in the sand pit of the volleyball court just as Cormac made to take a grab of Brenden's staff shirt. The three of them fell to the ground. Camp Adventure's Mr. Craig had caught the whole interaction. Mr. Craig expelled Cormac and Brenden from all competition of the day.

"Does he have the authority to do that?" Naomi asked out loud.

"It doesn't matter. The damage is done, and Camp Adventure already has the points," Wayne pointed out.

"Well, as hard as Wayne tried, Camp Adventure just beat us in volleyball, and their campers beat ours pretty well. Their campers beat ours in basketball too, but once we put Wayne in, they couldn't stop him. No one on their team could stop him." Cormac smiled in the direction of the boy sitting to his right.

"Well, I guess they lost Brenden too," Naomi pointed out.

"That's the thing," Cormac started, "He wasn't competing today anyways. He still has his cast on his hand, and he has some sort of protective jacket on because of something with his ribs."

"The bastards sabotaged us on purpose!" Nicky exclaimed.

The other three counselors started to brainstorm how Camp Adventure had planned to get Cormac suspended from the competitions of the day. Hermione looked across the table that she was sitting at to look Cormac in the face. She seemed to be at a loss of words. She had the feeling that she had been causing him so much trouble recently.

She mouthed two words to him silently across the table, "Thank you."

For the first time since she had joined Cormac and Wayne's table, Cormac broke a smile. He was certainly disappointed. He loved competition. He loved the Camp Cup. He loved winning the Camp Cup. It was the highlight of his week at Camp Craig, but everything was worth it now. Hermione wanted to reach across the table and take Cormac's hand in hers, but she didn't know what the response would be.

After another fifteen minutes in the cafeteria, Naomi spoke, "Alright let's head over to the football pitch. We are getting embarrassed and I just want this to be over."

Even though Cormac had been banned from competition, he was allowed to stand on the sidelines of the Camp Craig bench. He assumed the role of coach. Before the match started, the Camp Craig team had huddled around their star player who would be sitting out of the competition. Cormac assigned positions and handed out some last words of encouragement before the players took the pitch.

As soon as the match started, it was noticeable that Cormac was out of the lineup. Hermione thought about it, and the fact that it was so obvious that Cormac was missing, must've really spoken to his ability as a player. Cormac did his best to tweak the lineup in a formation that would put up a good fight against Camp Adventure and maybe squeak out a 1-0 - however unlikely - victory. Cormac suggested dropping Dayton into Cormac's usual role of creative playmaker, and assigned the next semi-abled body to replace Dayton in the forward position.

There was one early chance for the Camp Craig players to break through the 0-0 deadlock. Their opportunity to take the lead fizzled out as Ryan Craig glided in and swiped the ball away from the Camp Craig attacker. That was the only amount of excitement that was built up for any of the spectators adorned in purple and yellow.

Dayton did admirably in his new position, and it was a lot of responsibility for the young teen, especially since he was asked to fill the boots of Cormac. Alas, where Cormac would normally receive the ball and attack at full speed, Dayton was hesitant to go forward without a reliable front target. This lack of attacking edge really handicapped the Camp Craig contingent. On the converse side, Ryan was too quick and too strong for Dayton to hold him off. Ryan had a day highlighted by three goals that were too easy for Cormac's liking. When Cormac would normally recover from fifteen yards to nick the ball off Ryan, or at the very least off-balance the opposing player into a difficult shot or harder pass, Dayton wasn't up to snuff.

The game ended with a miserable 4-0 score line.

There was the usual short trophy presentation and Camp Adventure happily boarded their buses back to their home base with the Camp Cup onboard.

"Alright, everyone remember to pack your last things," Mr. Craig seemed disappointed in Camp Craig's effort for the Camp Cup, but he was doing his best not to show it, "Let's meet back here in twenty minutes to head back to the train stations or to meet with parents. For those of you that are staying until the next session, dinner will be at six o'clock promptly, followed by the sundae bar and the film 'Wild Wilderness'." As always, before he had finished his salutation of the gathering, people were already ascending the amphitheater steps.

There was a defeated attitude in the air, as Cormac and Hermione joined the masses back toward the cabins. Because it was such a miserable defeat for Camp Craig, the counselors had seemed to already throw in the metaphorical towel for the week. Their level of perceived "professionalism" went by the wayside. With the campers within earshot, most of the campers were already talking about the prospect of getting quite drunk at the counselor party.

At the first mention of the after-hours gathering with Camp Adventure, Hermione's stomach flipped. She was walking with Naomi and Ross toward the Vixens', Otters' and Lady Otters' cabins.

"I just want to 'unwind'," Ross was saying to Naomi.

"I know. I'm just done with this week," Naomi confessed. A few of the campers seemed to be offended by her words. Naomi did her best to try to convince the kids that it wasn't their fault. It was just a long week. She went to blame the misery on the heat from earlier that session.

Hermione's mind went back to the fragments that she remembered from the previous counselor party. Her stomach sank when she thought of some of the more explicit memories that came to the front. All of a sudden, Hermione didn't want the campers to leave or the session to end.

Hermione had the choice to not go to the counselor party, of course, but for some reason she didn't voice her opinion on the matter. Hermione's pace seemed to slow as she felt the looming weight of being brought back to the vicinity of Ryan Craig and Brenden Fonte pressed on her brain.

When Hermione climbed the steps up to the Lady Otters' cabin, she could hear her campers finishing up the last of their packing noisily. It was a sign that the session was over. It deflated her a little more.

"Hey," Cormac was standing at the bottom of the steps that led up to where Hermione was standing.

Hermione turned and half-smiled at Cormac, "Hey."

Cormac placed his forearms nonchalantly on the hand railing that led up the steps, "I know that there is the counselor thing tonight, but I thought that it could be fun to stay and watch the movie with the campers tonight."

That was not what Hermione had expected at all. She was glad for an excuse to miss the late night outing, "Really?"

"Yeah, that movie is one of my favorites," Cormac said waving his hand as if it was obviously a great movie.

"Which movie is it?" Hermione asked him. She was pretty sure that she had never heard of it when Mr. Craig mentioned it, but she couldn't remember for the life of her what the title was.

"The movie?" Cormac paused. "It's…" He stared off to the ground trying to have the name of the movie returned to his memory.

"Isn't it one of your favorites?" Hermione was confused on how he could forget the title of the movie if he was so excited to see it.

"Yeah, it's got the action and the adventure right in the beginning of it. And then there is some comedy rolled in there. And the suspense at the end. Wow! The suspense." Cormac seemed uncomfortable with his words.

"You're just saying movie genres," Hermione looked down at Cormac through narrowed eyes.

Cormac ignored her comment, "Ok so you and me, and the sundae bar and this movie. Sound good?"

Hermione thought that he was acting suspiciously, but she nodded and walked in to meet her Lady Otters.

Cormac turned on the spot and went toward the Hares' cabin.

"Hey, Cormac," it was Eric, "What time are you thinking of heading over to the storage barns?"

"Um, I don't know," Cormac didn't want to confide that he would be missing the get-together.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Eric asked.

"I might stay back and…" Cormac's words got very fast and soft, "watch the movie and whatever."

"Seriously?" Eric was rightfully surprised.

Cormac silently nodded.

"You're going to opt to watch 'Wild Wilderness'?" Eric had a disgusted look on his face.

"'Wild Wilderness'," Cormac snapped his fingers when he heard the title of the movie, "that's the name."

"Have you ever seen that movie?" Eric still had a disgusted look on his face.

Cormac shook his head side-to-side.

"It's fucking terrible," Eric almost chuckled, "are you sure you want to miss the party?"

Cormac thought on it for a second. Yes, he loved a good party as much as the next seventeen year old, but over the past few weeks, these parties seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. Fights, hangovers, tears all seemed not worth it. Cormac especially didn't want Hermione to have to come face to face with either of those monsters from Camp Adventure.

"I think I'll be ok," Cormac told him.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39 (This story is back from the dead everyone!)

At the lowly attended dinner, Hermione kept very quiet. She was sitting with some of the younger counselors and they were all speaking excitedly about the coming activities of the evening. Hermione didn't want to bring any attention to herself, so she sat silently. When the conversation called for her to laugh, she laughed, or when the moment called for an exclamation, she did, but as far as committing to attending or saying that she was eager for the counselors' party, she kept her mouth shut.

Hermione looked over her shoulder to find Cormac sitting down at a different table with Gary who appeared to be mildly reprimanding Cormac for being expelled from the Camp Cup. Hermione couldn't be certain, but it sure seemed like Cormac was sacrificing a lot for Hermione's sake recently. As Hermione was pondering that thought, Cormac peeked up from his plate and made eye contact with her. He smiled at Hermione from across the room, and it felt like her chest was lifting out of her body. Hermione smiled back in his direction and waved. After Hermione twittered her fingers in Cormac's direction, he seemed much less concerned about what Gary was saying to him.

"Hey, Hermione," Hermione turned her attention back to Naomi.

"Can I borrow that blue top that you have?"

Hermione had to take a second to think what Naomi was referring to, but when she finally caught onto the conversation that was going on around her, Hermione responded, "Absolutely."

"Ok, great. What are you going to wear?" Naomi questioned her.

"I don't know yet," Hermione seemed to become very interested in shoveling the last of the food on her plate into her mouth. She needed to take one more swipe across her plate to funnel all of the remaining veggies into her mouth. Before she had even started to chew, she was standing with her dishes and heading toward the dish-drop-off

Because the counselors were technically off-duty, Hermione didn't need to wait to be dismissed from the cafeteria. She knew that she wanted to head right to her cabin so that she wouldn't be bothered with any more questions about her evening plans. Hermione hadn't noticed it, but Cormac was coming up from behind Hermione. He was walking a little faster than his natural pace to catch up to her.

"Hey, Cormac," Wayne said waving a hand up and down to gain Cormac's attention. Cormac did his best to remind himself over and over again not to be distracted by anyone or anything, but when Wayne said his name, he couldn't help himself. Cormac's neck turned in the direction of the counselors at the table, then he tried to snap it back forward as if he hadn't heard them, but it was too late.

"Hey," Cormac said half-heartedly. Hermione had halted in front of him and was looking over her shoulder to see Cormac still approaching her in his fast-walk.

"Do you know what time you guys are going to head over?" Wayne motioned a finger in Cormac and Hermione's direction.

Cormac made eye contact with Hermione for a second and they tried to think of an answer in a split second.

"You know what?" Cormac started, "I'll maybe head over around the usual time." Cormac tried to be as vague as possible.

"Around 8 or 9?" Naomi questioned.

"Yeah," Cormac said initially, "Maybe."

"Well are you guys going to head over there around 8 – or around 9?" Ross asked, looking for some clarification.

"Yeah," Cormac said continuing walking toward the exit. He approached Hermione from behind and placed his hands on her shoulders. He moved to steer her toward the exit, "Maybe," he called over his shoulder.

Naomi, Wayne and Ross had puzzled looks on their faces and commented on how weird Cormac's answers were.

Cormac and Hermione successfully stepped out of the cafeteria and the sun was just beginning to set. They needed to shield their eyes from the low orb in the sky.

"Ok, so what are you going to do now?" Hermione asked, once she spun away from Cormac's hands that had been resting on her shoulder.

"Well, if you aren't doing anything important," Cormac had a sly grin come across his face, "I was thinking maybe…" He didn't finish his words, because he thought that the tone he was using implied everything that he meant.

Hermione half-rolled her eyes, "No."

"Fine," Cormac said disappointed. It was wishful thinking, but he would've been lying if he said he wasn't hopeful she would say yes, "What do you want to do?"

Cormac never got to hear what Hermione wanted to do, because they were interrupted.

"Excuse me," a pair of adults were walking down the path from the Gatehouse. Behind them was Macy.

Macy waved at Hermione.

"Yes?" Hermione questioned the adults. Next, Hermione waved sideways at the camper, "Hi Macy."

"Hi, we were wondering what we needed to do to enroll Macy up for next week as well. She had such a good time at camp that she wanted to stay for a second week. Can you help us with that?" Macy's mother asked.

"I can't," Hermione said turning an index finger to point at her chest, "but I can take you to someone who can." Hermione turned her attention to Cormac.

"I'll see you in a bit," Cormac said to the beautiful counselor in front of him. He waved politely to Macy's parents and said hello to the little Lady Otter and he walked toward his cabin alone.

Hermione led the family of three into the cafeteria, and found Mr. and Mrs. Craig sitting close to the cafeteria door.

"Hi, Mr. Craig," the camp director turned his attention to Hermione and Hermione began to explain that Macy wanted to repeat another session at camp.

"Of course there is room. We would be happy to have Macy again. Actually, numbers for the next two weeks are a little lower than anticipated so this is a great pleasure for us. And of course, Macy is such a joy to have," Mr. Craig stood up and started to talk about the usual arrangements with Macy's parents. For a minute, Hermione thought she was going to need to stand and listen to the logistics of Macy's stay, but Mr. Craig dismissed her before she became too bored.

When Hermione left the cafeteria, she was joined by most of the campers that were heading back toward the cabins. She didn't feel like interacting with the campers so she took on a leisurely slow pace. She was looking all around her and was taking in how beautiful camp looked. Everything was lushly green and clean. The buildings were quaint and cute. As she looked in the direction of the lake, there were small ripples in the water that made the surface look like glitter with the reflection of the setting sun.

Hermione absentmindedly followed her feet back to her cabin. She was surprised to find herself pushing through the door and into her room. A walk that normally took ten minutes ended up taking her nearly twenty. The sun had almost completely set beneath the horizon. Hermione decided that the next thing to do was take a shower before the movie.

Hermione stripped down and turned the hot water on. Before she entered the shower, she laid out what she was planning on wearing to the very informal night movie and ice cream bar. Hermione dug through her drawers and found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. On the floor near the bathroom, was Cormac's Tutshill Tornados sweater. Hermione tossed it in a ball and threw it on top of the other clothes that she had laid out, before entering the steam-filled room.

She stepped in the shower and ran through her usual ritual. She turned the water off once she had finished one last rinse. Hermione was still in her towel when a knock on the door came.

She expected to see Cormac McLaggen on the other side of the threshold, but Naomi was there to greet her. Hermione must've had a confused expression on her face when she saw the dark-skinned girl, because Naomi commented on Hermione's look of disappointment.

"Sorry that I'm not your boyfriend, but I'm here to pick up that shirt," Naomi reminded her.

Hermione had completely forgotten that she had promised that blue shirt to Naomi, "Yeah, it's right over here." Hermione stepped back into the room to allow Naomi to follow her, "And Cormac isn't my boyfriend." Hermione added.

Naomi entered and waited for Hermione to fish the shirt out of her dresser. Naomi was looking at the lump of clothes on the bed, "This isn't what you are wearing is it?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder to see what Naomi was referring to, "Those?" Hermione paused, "No, of course not."

"Good. Those look more like pajamas than an outfit," Naomi pushed the clothes to the side so that she could sit on the bed.

Changing the topic, Hermione stood up with the shirt, "Here it is." Hermione normally would've lightly tossed the article of clothing to her friend, but instead Hermione stood with it outstretched in her hand just out of Naomi's reach. That forced Naomi to stand up to receive the article of clothing. Sensing that Hermione wasn't in the mood for talking, Naomi thanked her friend and exited.

Hermione would normally confide in Naomi, but Hermione sensed if she filled in Naomi on all the reasons why she wanted to pass on the counselors' party, Naomi would somehow convince Hermione to go. Eventually, Hermione would tell her, and Naomi would understand, but that just wasn't a battle that Hermione wanted to fight at that moment.

Hermione peered out of one of her windows and waited to make sure that Naomi was around the corner before Hermione started to get dressed in her "pajamas". Hermione pulled Cormac's sweater up and over her head. The inside of the cotton still smelled like him. Once it was over her head, she felt immediately cozier.

Hermione peered over to her clock and it was almost seven o'clock. That meant that the ice cream sundae bar was about to start and the movie would start shortly after that. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror one more time, before she exited her building.

Hermione could see that there was a line already forming in the opening near the fire pit. Hermione followed the crowd and headed toward the back of the line. She twisted and turned her head around, but couldn't locate where Cormac was. This was the first time that Hermione would ever partake in the sundae bar, but Hermione thought that it was a simple enough exercise. There were four different cartons of ice cream with different tubs full of toppings. Hermione was next in line to start scooping ice cream, when the loud thuds of pounding feet were coming across Lower Bridge.

Cormac was running with two cups in his hand as quickly as he could across Lower Bridge. Hermione allowed several campers to cut her in line as Cormac came down to approach her.

"Oh good, you didn't make your sundae yet," Cormac said with a few beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. In his hand, he had two cups of what Hermione could tell were Ms. Kirby's ice cream. Hermione instantly became much more excited about the prospect of an enriched ice cream sundae.

"Did you just get back from the petrol station?" Hermione questioned him quietly.

"Yeah," he too kept his voice down, "It took me a little longer than I expected. Ms. Kirby had lots to say to me. She sends her best." Cormac wiped at his forehead. He extended one of the cups of ice cream to the girl wearing his Tornados sweater.

"What is it?" Hermione was asking what flavor he had gotten her.

Cormac had a sly grin slide across his face. He was quite proud of himself, "It's cardamom."

Hermione's eye grew even wider, "Oh, thank you!"

"Hold on to this for me," Cormac handed Hermione his cup of ice cream, "And I'm going to shower quickly and get into some comfier clothes. I'll be right back."

"Which toppings do you want?" Hermione called after him as Cormac peeled out toward his cabin.

Cormac waved a dismissive hand that Hermione understood to mean, don't put anything on it.

Hermione took her place in the line and skipped passed the usual chocolate and vanilla offerings and slid down toward the toppings. Hermione looked at the options in front of her and couldn't be certain what would go well with cardamom-flavored ice cream. She didn't know if there was anyone in the world that would know what would pair well with cardamom. She thought hard and decided that she couldn't go wrong if she added some hot fudge in a corner and topped the whole thing with some whipped cream.

Hermione carried both of the cold cups in her hands toward where the inflatable large screen and projector were. The screen was about the size of one of the sides to the cabins, large enough for a movie to be seen from twenty yards away comfortably. As Hermione looked around, all the campers had large blankets laid down on the ground and people were facing the inflatable screen.

Hermione saw that there were several campers laying around a circle and playing cards, while several others were playing a game that required a pen and a piece of paper. Others seemed to be more invested in the movie and were facing the inflatable. Hermione noticed that Macy and Dayton were sharing a blanket to themselves. Hermione smiled. Slowly, she approached both of them.

"Hey, guys," Hermione quietly interrupted them.

"Hi, Hermione," Dayton said with a smile.

"Where did you get that blanket?" she motioned to the object that they were sitting on.

"If you go over there, Mrs. Craig will give you one," Dayton said pointing to the side of the inflatable screen.

Hermione thanked the boy and waved at Macy. Hermione came to the side that Dayton had pointed to and when she spoke she seemed to startle Mrs. Craig.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"That's alright, Hermione. I just wasn't expecting anyone coming up here. All of the campers are accounted for and no counselors usually show up to the movie." Mrs. Craig said. Hermione took a peek and she seemed to be going over some financials and sheets of paper with what looked like the camp budget. There was a lot of red on what Mrs. Craig was working on.

"Yeah," Hermione said, "I was just trying to see if I could get a blanket."

"Sure, help yourself," Mrs. Craig said waving a hand in the direction of a basket with a few more remaining blankets.

Hermione thanked Mrs. Craig, and Mrs. Craig returned back to her numbers. Hermione reached down and grabbed the first rolled up quilt that she saw. She brought it back to the back of the campers. She settled on a piece of ground next to the fire pit benches. She placed the ice cream on the bench made of wood and went to unroll the used coverlet in her hands. She was almost ashamed to see how small the blanket was that she had chosen. Hermione didn't know if she would even chose that bedspread to cover herself on a cold winter night.

When Hermione deemed that the blanket would not work for sitting on by two teenagers, she quickly folded it and tossed it on the side of the bench. Hermione trotted back to where she had acquired the first blanket. She inspected all the blankets, because she was now aware that not all blankets were created equally. When Hermione found one that met her size requirements, she returned back toward her spot on the ground. As she walked back toward the fire pit bench and her ice cream, she crossed Mr. Craig.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" Mr. Craig said pleasantly surprised to see a counselor.

"Just here for the movie and ice cream," Hermione said to the director. Hermione noticed that the movie was just beginning to fire up on the inflatable screen. Mr. Craig must have just turned the film on.

"Aren't you going to be with the other counselors tonight?" he asked her.

"No, I don't think tonight," Hermione told him, "I think I'm going to have a quiet night."

"Well, have fun. Looks like someone is looking for you," Mr. Craig pointed toward where Hermione had set up her 'basecamp'.

Cormac was holding his cup of ice cream and appeared to be scanning the area for Hermione. He saw her as Hermione made her way toward him with the blanket.

Cormac spoke once Hermione had moved passed the last blanket with campers on it, "I'm going to go put my toppings on this." He held up his ice cream cup.

Hermione didn't respond. She just unrolled the blanket and tried to set up their seats. Hermione made sure that all of the edges were down flatly before she took her seat. She was pleased with where she had chosen, because she could lean back against the bench of the fire pit to support herself.

The first preview had finished by the time Cormac returned. He eased his weight down next to Hermione. He also rested his back against the bench behind them. Hermione peered over into Cormac's ice cream cup and she had a hard time believing what she was seeing. Instead of the cup that was given to him by Ms. Kirby that was no rounder than the palm of Hermione's hand, Cormac now had a bowl that Hermione would've needed two hands to hold. There was still the same amount of ice cream – two or three scoops – but Cormac's toppings required an upgrade from a cup to a bowl.

"What did you do?" Hermione asked pointing with her own spoon into Cormac's lap where the bowl was resting.

"What do you mean?" Cormac looked down at his bowl as if it was a work of art.

It looked like Cormac had covered the entire thing in chocolate sauce, candy covered chocolate pieces, whipped cream and all of the maraschino cherries. There were no less than fifteen in his bowl.

"That's no longer an ice cream sundae," Hermione said looking at the horror in his bowl.

"Then what is it?" Cormac asked digging his spoon into his bowl and scooping up a droopy mess toward his mouth.

"That's a," the words didn't come to her right away, "dessert soup."

"Well, that's not going to stop me," Cormac said continuing to take another gloopy spoonful into his mouth.

Hermione and Cormac sat quietly in the back of the movie and did their best to watch the film, but they both found it incredibly hard. The plot was horrible and the humor was unbearable. It didn't even seem like the campers were watching. Hermione was searching the surroundings for any type of stimulation that would take her away from the horrendous film. Her attention was brought behind them, when she heard some of the counselors do their best to scamper off toward the storage barns- unseen by the campers. Anytime that Cormac or Hermione would peer over their shoulder and saw that counselors were running off to the woods, they would both turn sharply around and slouch down in their seats.

A few times, Hermione caught Mr. and Mrs. Craig discussing something that was on some of Mrs. Craig's sheets of paper. Hermione noticed that Cormac seemed to be watching the Craig's interaction as well.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Hermione asked him.

"Something about money?" Cormac suggested. There was no way for him to actually know, but it was probably a safe bet.

"I wonder why," Hermione thought out loud.

"No idea, but watching them is better than watching this movie," Cormac said.

"I thought this was one of your favorites," Hermione turned her attention toward Cormac. She was looking at him with an unsure face.

"Oh," Cormac seemed to be caught, "Yeah, I guess I remember it differently. I saw it a long time ago." Cormac's words could've fooled Hermione, but his delivery of how he said them wouldn't have convinced anyone.

"Cormac McLaggen, this is not your favorite movie," Hermione accused him.

"I thought it was," Cormac would've staggered backwards if he were on his feet.

"You haven't even seen this movie before. Have you?" Hermione accused again.

"Well, maybe not this version," he was drowning in his words.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione said turning to face him full on.

Cormac couldn't seem to make eye contact with Hermione, "I don't know."

Hermione kept looking in his direction.

"I didn't want you to have to go back to the counselor party," he finally confessed, "I didn't want you to go, and I wanted to selfishly keep you to myself."

His words took a moment to sink in and a small smile crossed her face. Cormac was scared to look in her direction because she hadn't said anything. He gambled a quick glance her way and saw the reaction on her face. Hermione didn't say anything. She turned back to face the front. Her lips were still curled in the corners.

Cormac was smiling himself. He scooted his bottom closer toward Hermione. He reached up with his left hand and draped it around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. That made Hermione glad that she had Cormac. Hermione reached into Cormac's lap with a hand and found his right hand. She entwined their fingers together and they sat there for a minute facing the inflatable screen and watching blankly. They sat in silence for about fifteen minute until Cormac broke the silence.

"Holy cock shit!" he exclaimed in a low whisper. His whole body seemed to jump as his words escaped his mouth.

Hermione was comfortably resting her head against his shoulder and was startled by his sudden movements.

"What is wrong with you?" Hermione asked a little annoyed at the handsome boy.

Cormac didn't use his words. Instead, he placed a thumb and index finger on either side of Hermione's chin and turned her head. Hermione didn't see the point in Cormac's antics as he positioned her head, but then she saw it.

"Oh shit!" Hermione also had her voice hushed. She immediately covered her mouth when she heard the words that she said.

Fifteen yards in front of the pair of teenagers, Dayton and Macy were kissing. Hermione was amazed to see that Cormac seemed to be overreacting. He reached out with one hand and grabbed onto Hermione's wrist in what she assumed was uncontained excitement.

"Look at him go," Cormac said in awe.

"Can they be doing that?" Hermione asked. She was mentally going through all the files in her brain with the camp rules.

"Be quiet. We aren't working," Cormac told her. He was craning his neck to get a good look.

"Give them privacy," Hermione said trying to cover Cormac's eyes.

He had no problem removing Hermione's hands from his face.

"You don't know how much restraint it is taking me to not go embarrass him right now," Cormac said softly as Hermione continued trying to cover his eyes.

"Don't you dare," Hermione threatened.

"Do you think I can hit him with one of these cherries?" Cormac made to pick out one of the remaining sugary treats in his ice cream bowl.

"Don't you dare," she said again.

"Or else what?" Cormac now turned all of his attention to Hermione.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What are you going to do to me?" Cormac's eye contact with her was fierce.

Hermione bought a moment of time, "What am I going to do?"

Cormac nodded with a smile etching across his face.

Hermione could've reacted in several different ways, but she had a cleverly wicked idea come to her mind.

"What am I going to do?" She repeated. Hermione leaned close to Cormac so that her lips were right next to Cormac's ear in a sultry voice, "What do you want me to do?"

Cormac hadn't expected Hermione to react this way. He didn't have anything witty or clever to say back to her. He just had his eyes expanding larger than normal and a blank expression on his face.

"Well, how about I reach over and take that blanket and put it across our laps?" Hermione kept her voice low.

Cormac's eyes had a look of disbelief on them.

Hermione left her lips near Cormac's ear as she continued, "I can put my hand down in your lap like you like." Hermione trailed the outside of her hand on Cormac's thigh briefly. The teenage boy looked down at the contact against his leg. "No one would know what I would be doing. I could do anything you wanted me to do."

Cormac couldn't believe his ears.

"Maybe I could unbutton your pants and take you in my soft little hands. Would you like that?" Hermione asked.

Cormac silently nodded since a lack of words came to his mind.

"I could take all of you in my hand and move it slowly up and down your big," Hermione was a young lady and didn't use perverse language, "situation."

"Yeah? What else?" Cormac finally found the ability to speak again.

"You want more?" Hermione was having a hard time twisting her body to continue whispering in Cormac's ear, so now she adjusted herself to sitting on her knees so that she could face him without straining her neck. "Well, if it was late enough and no one was watching I could do a lot more."

"Yeah? What would you do?" Cormac was enjoying this flirting.

"Use your imagination," Hermione hadn't thought through this much of her teasing story.

"Tell me," Cormac said to her. It wasn't demanding. It was more pleading.

Hermione thought quickly, "Well, if no one could see us I could crawl into your lap and I could rock myself in your lap, because I know you like that."

"Yes I do," Cormac confirmed. He continued looking at Hermione waiting for more.

"I could whisper in your ear and tell you how excited you make me," Hermione went on. She could sense that this was exactly what Cormac wanted to hear, "And you could reach up and grab my on my thighs and anywhere else that you want to."

"Anywhere?" Cormac questioned.

"At that point I wouldn't care what you did to me. I'd just want something bad," Hermione bit her lip as she said that.

"Something bad," Cormac seemed to brainstorm dreamily in his mind.

"Something that I've only done with you, because of that special thing you can do to me," Hermione was being vague, but it seemed to be exactly what Cormac wanted to hear.

"You like when I do that?" Cormac had one idea in his mind, and it was giving him horny tunnel-vision.

"I love it," Hermione cooed in his ear.

"Why do you love it?" Cormac was using every ounce of restraint to reach out a pull Hermione on top of him.

"I love it, because it feels so good," and she added, "and because it's so big."

"Yeah, it is," Cormac said with a cocky, presumptuous tone.

"Sometimes I worry it's too big," Hermione breathed into Cormac's ear.

Cormac would've loved to hear more about Hermione's opinion on his hardware and sexual prowess, but the evening was beginning to wind down.

"Alright, campers, that's the end of the movie. Please finish up whatever you have left from the sundae bar and make sure to throw out your trash. If you borrowed a blanket from the basket by the screen, please roll it up and put it back where you found it. Lights out will be in fifteen minutes. Mrs. Craig and I will be coming around to check cabins around then," Mr. Craig announced as he shut the movie off.

Hermione became hyper-aware of how turned on she had gotten herself from her dirty talk with Cormac. As Hermione created some space between their bodies, she caught a peek in Cormac's lap and saw that he was feeling the same way.

"Cormac, will you be a good lad and put the fire out? I know that you aren't technically working, but would you mind?" Mr. Craig asked as he was pushing the little trolley that housed the old VHS player and the projector.

"Sure thing," Cormac said. His word choice was ironic, because he sounded very unsure.

"You sit there," Hermione said relieving him of his duties so that he wouldn't need to worry about showing off his erection to everyone in the vicinity.

Hermione found one of the pails used to douse out the bonfire. She brought it to the lake and returned to drown the flames. By the time she had returned, Cormac had done his best to mask his arousal.

"Let me do that," Cormac said reaching out with a hand to take the bucket from her.

"I can manage," Hermione said. Looking down into the charred hole, there were still embers and ash that were burning hot. It was obvious to both of them that they would need to return to the lake for a second trip.

Cormac didn't try to impose his will on Hermione. He allowed her to carry the bucket. They were walking in the opposite direction of most of the campers that were returning to their beds. Every one of them bid Cormac and Hermione a good night. The pair of counselors smiled and continued to the water. Hermione scoped some water up in the bucket and headed back to the center of the cabins where she made sure to extinguish the last of the bonfire.

"Looks good," Cormac said peering into the now damp hole in the ground.

At that, Hermione put the bucket back where she found it and went to head toward her cabin. She was halted in her tracks. Cormac had reached out and pulled Hermione toward him by her waist.

"You know what?" Cormac said as he moved her closer toward him.

"What?" Hermione asked reflexively.

"I think it is time we head to bed," Cormac told her.

"Just bed?" Hermione asked with a sideways glance.

Cormac answered by shrugging.

**A/N: Sorry for the long break from the story everyone, the holidays really got in the way and I apologize. It took me a while to get a good head of steam on this story again. I have a few chapters written. I need to edit them and then I can upload them. I'm hoping to finish up another 10 or so chapters, before this story comes to a conclusion. But in the future, I see another Camp Cup competition, a quick vacation with a few of the counselors, maybe an appearance of Ron and/or Harry, and maybe a little magic.**

**I know that one of the complaints have been that there is no magic and no other Original Characters, but that wasn't the intent of this fic. I do have another idea for a fic in mind that would have more of those aspects, but I want to make sure that I do the rest of this story justice first!**

**jrb2009**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

As Cormac and Hermione rounded around from the center of the fire pit back toward the counselors' cabins, the pair of them ran into Mrs. Craig who was just finishing checking on the campers in their cabins that were spilling into the next week.

"Good night, you two," she said addressing her two counselors.

"Good night, Mrs. Craig," they said as they turned to follow the path toward their cabins and out of sight.

"Cormac, I hope that you are heading to your own cabin," Mrs. Craig's voice called after the two teenagers.

"Yes, Mrs. C," Cormac turned around to face her and did his best to force a genuine-looking smile in her direction.

"Good night, kids," Mrs. Craig said and she was gone.

"You don't think she really meant that do you?" Cormac asked with the slightest amount of worry in his voice.

"I don't know," Hermione responded truthfully.

"Do you think she is going to check?" Cormac questioned, "Is there a rule against me going back to your cabin?"

Hermione closed her eyes and searched the files of her brain, but couldn't recall anything that explicitly forbade Cormac from being in Hermione's cabin, "I can't think of a reason."

"Maybe I will head back to my cabin and wait a few minutes to see if she is going to check on us or not," Cormac told her, "And then I can come over."

Hermione nodded with a smile that approached shyness.

Cormac didn't think that her response was too enthusiastic, so he added, "That is if you want."

"No I do," Hermione said smiling harder.

"Alright, I'll be over in a bit," Cormac said before he turned at the fork in the path that led to the Hares' and Lady Hares' counselors' cabins.

Hermione returned to her cabin a little relieved that the day was over. She was happy that she had spent the evening away from the rest of the counselors. Who knew what kind of trouble she may have gotten into or caused if she had shown up. On second thought, it wasn't her that would _cause_ the trouble. That responsibility would've fallen on the shoulders of Brenden and Ryan. It was better for her to remove herself from that situation. And having Cormac with her all night made her so much happier.

Hermione climbed the steps to her cabin, and was completely undressed before she stepped into her bathroom. She turned the knobs of the shower to the desired spots - now that she had been at camp for over three weeks, she had found out exactly where she needed to turn the hot and cold knobs for the perfect temperature. Hermione stepped in and washed herself as quickly as possible.

She toweled dry and got into her pajamas. She had planned on waiting up for Cormac to join her. She enjoyed their somewhat routine exercise of getting into bed and falling asleep together. Hermione never would've imagined that at fifteen she would be the kind of girl that would spend most summer nights in bed with a boy, but the thought of Cormac McLaggen made her heart flutter for a moment.

Hermione found herself waiting longer than she had anticipated. The lights in her cabin remained on, and she was puttering around the area. She started by attempting to tidy around her already perfectly neat room, and then she tried to inspect some the organization in her dressers, but once she found her feet getting tired from remaining standing, she made her way to her bed.

She remained on top of the covers, and tried to patiently sit for Cormac to join her. After a little more time passed, Hermione closed her eyes and rested her head against the headboard. She followed an exercise that she did when she found herself alone and waiting. She tried to think of a conversation she had had throughout the day and tried to translate the conversation with Ancient Runes. The different symbols were swirling around behind the back of her eyelids. She successfully translated one conversation, and then another, and then another. The effect seemed to work almost like counting sheep.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Cormac was going to apologize for being late, because he thought that Mrs. Craig was circling his cabin so he had been afraid to leave until the coast was completely clear, but when he looked up and saw Hermione in the bed asleep, he closed his mouth.

Hermione's body had slunk down from the headboard and she was now completely lying on her side facing the door. Cormac had barged into the room and had completely stopped in his tracks. The last thing he wanted to do was wake the sleeping angel in front of him.

Cormac reached behind himself and closed the door much gentler than he had opened it. He was relieved that when he flung the door open, he had not woken Hermione up. He traced a hand along the wall and found the light switch. He turned the lights off, pulled his shirt up and over his head and joined Hermione on top of the covers. The warm night air kept the need for a blanket at bay. He slid onto the bed and without making a sound, Cormac pulled his body next to Hermione and rested his head on the pillow closest to him.

In her sleep, Hermione appeared to nuzzle back against Cormac's hard warm body. Cormac did his best to get Hermione's hair out from tickling his nose, but he found it difficult for the first minute. Using the air in his lungs and well-aimed blowing motions with his mouth, he was able to make a space where he could breathe without in taking any of Hermione's looser hairs in his face.

One full good night's sleep later, Hermione woke up feeling more refreshed than ever. Rather than waking up with a hangover or any sort of regret from the night before, Hermione was certain that she had made the right choice in not going out the night before and giving her body a chance to rest. Hermione opened her eyes and rolled over onto her other side. Cormac was rolled up into a ball on the other side of the bed.

Feeling reenergized and glad to see the handsome boy next to her, Hermione rolled over and kissed him on the cheek as delicately as dew gathering on green grass.

"Good morning," Cormac said sleepily. His eyes fluttered opened for the briefest second and then returned shut.

"Good morning," Hermione said nuzzling against the back of Cormac. She kissed the back of his neck.

Cormac didn't move at her touch.

"What time did you come over?" Hermione asked as she moved to lift up his arm that was against his side so that she could slide an arm under his much larger appendage and hold him.

Cormac didn't speak. His chest just moved up and down as he continued to breathe deeply.

Hermione didn't know what had gotten into her, but she was looking forward to some alone time in her cabin with Cormac. Her arm was draped across Cormac's tight obliques and her fingertips curled down to Cormac's abs. Since they was not speaking, Hermione did her best to idly pass the time by slowly stroking Cormac's upper stomach muscles. Her touch was hardly delicate enough to notice, but Cormac did notice.

The teenage boy slowly opened his eyes with a crooked smile on his face. Very slowly, he rolled to his opposite side so that he could face Hermione. He turned and placed his forehead against hers. Hermione's hand now rested against Cormac's middle back. It was so toned and muscular. There was a definition about it that Hermione could feel where one side of his muscle was, the valley where his spine lay, and the other fibers of muscle on the other side. Hermione gripped her fingers into his bare skin a little harder. His masculine form fueled something deep in her mind.

Cormac reached up with his right hand and stroked some hair behind Hermione's ear and then he made his move. Cormac's lips slowly came to connect with Hermione's. Hermione hadn't realized just how badly she had wanted Cormac to kiss her, until he was actually doing it.

Hermione wasted no time letting the boy know what she wanted. With very little strength, Hermione reached up with her left hand and pressed it against the front of Cormac's shoulder. He understood that she wanted him to lie flat on his back. He did.

In one sweeping move, Hermione sat up and threw her left leg over Cormac's waist, and in no time, she was sitting on top of him. Hermione bent over at her waist so that she could continue to reach down and kiss the gorgeous boy in her bed.

Cormac's hands, which had rested on Hermione's waist, were now climbing up her sides and raising her shirt and his Tutshill Tornados sweater up as they went. After the slightest moment, Hermione allowed Cormac to assist the articles of clothing up and over her head. Rather than throwing them on the floor, Cormac crumpled the bundle of clothes on the bed next to them.

Cormac brought his hands back to Hermione's body and he rested them on a part of Hermione's body that was difficult to describe. It was lower than her hip, but not quite on her thigh yet. Each of Cormac's hands cupped the outside of Hermione's bottom, where Hermione's legs attached to her hips.

Hermione rested her hands on Cormac's upper chest. She bent down at the elbows so that she could bring her lips back to his. Hermione dragged one of her hands up from Cormac's chest, along his jawline, and up to his hair where she could tangle her fingers in his messy hair. Her other hand kept flexing her fingers against the strong muscles on Cormac's front.

Hermione thought that Cormac was playfully moving a hand up along her side in a teasing fashion, but she could not be more wrong. Cormac's right hand was moving directly to Hermione's back. Within seconds, the clasp of Hermione's bra that she had accidentally fallen asleep in, sprang free from the release in tension. Hermione removed her hands from Cormac's body so that she could shrug out of the garment. Once the second strap fell off of Hermione's shoulder, Cormac reached out to get his hands back on the beautiful Gryffindor girl.

It was apparent to Hermione that Cormac was definitely not asleep anymore. He was definitely awake and attentive. The teen reached up with both his hands and took Hermione's modestly sized chest against his palms. Cormac varied his motions from squeezing the firm mounds with his fingers, to rubbing them delicately. Hermione was now forced to sit up on her knees while Cormac moved his attention to Hermione's front side. She had to sit up, because Cormac's arms were almost fully extended from his body. Hermione badly wished that she could find a way to bring her lips back down to his, but she wasn't going to complain with Cormac stimulating her chest.

Hermione was looking down at the boy. She would change her gaze from looking into his eyes to eyeing his hands while his digits worked. Hermione hadn't even realized that as she was enjoying herself, she started to involuntarily move her hips on top of him. Hermione was pressing down on just the right place while she slid her body against Cormac's.

A combination of things caused the animal inside of Cormac to come forward with a roar. Hermione had just pressed down most of her weight right on Cormac's groin, before she dragged the rest of her pelvis against his hardening length, and she had just altered her gaze from Cormac's hands to meet his eyes. As she met his stare, she took the slightest bite of her own lip, and that was all it took for the teenager on bottom.

Cormac took Hermione's already hardened nipples between his thumb and forefingers. He had squeezed harder than he had anticipated. He would've blamed that on the animal was already out of its cage. Hermione gave an audible gasp with the wince she made. Her body reacted. Cormac purposefully dragged her toward him by the hold that he had on her. Hermione's hands reached up to try to slap Cormac's hands from her, because the sensation of painful pleasure was heading toward just pain.

Cormac released her and slung his hands around the back of Hermione's neck. He pulled her all the way down to him so that they were kissing again. Before their lips were even in contact, Cormac's tongue was working to gain access to Hermione's mouth. The girl didn't have any objections.

Cormac released one hand from behind Hermione's delicate neck and started to trace his hand down the side of her body. It started by her shoulder, but it wasn't long until his hand was idly approaching Hermione's upper thigh. Cormac moved swiftly and it caught the girl by surprise. Cormac rolled Hermione underneath him before she knew what had happened. Once Hermione was flat on her back, Cormac immediately removed the last layer of clothing she had on.

Hermione normally would've been slightly shocked with how quickly Cormac was flying around the bed, but he didn't even give her a chance to be shocked. Cormac placed a palm on the bed next to Hermione's head to support most of his weight. His other hand went straight to Hermione's warm core. Hermione had a quick intake of air as Cormac's fingers invaded her.

Hermione had her knees bent up while Cormac started to move his fingers in and out of her. Cormac was focusing on moving his hand in a rhythmic pattern. Even though his hand was moving in a repetitive motion, he was doing everything in his power to maneuver his wrist as quickly as he could. In mere moments, Hermione was pressing the top of her head against the mattress. She was bending and arching as Cormac's digits brought on Hermione's first orgasm.

Cormac smiled down on her hungrily as he watched Hermione's eyes twist shut. At the same time, her knees made a slight jolt together as Hermione temporarily lost control of her legs. Silently, she felt her first wave of immense pleasure rush over he. Hermione's knees bent together one more time as the force of her orgasm waned. She exhaled once.

"You like that, Granger?" Cormac asked with a crooked smile on his face.

"You're just so good at it," Hermione said feeling shy and giddy.

"Well, why don't you come over here and return the favor?" Cormac suggested. Before he was done speaking, he rolled off of Hermione and reclined on his back.

Hermione understood that it was her turn to crawl on top of the handsome teen on the bed. She did exactly what Cormac was hoping she would do. Hermione sat up on Cormac's waist and reached down with a hand to try to shift Cormac's bottom layers so that she could access the flesh that Cormac was eagerly waiting for her to find. Once Hermione lifted up the waistband to the layer that was in her hands, Cormac made sure to assist her. He shifted his weight up into the air so that it was understood that Hermione should work to completely remove the layer of clothing that she was working with.

Hermione did the best she could to pull the article of clothing down so that she could grasp Cormac in her hand, but Cormac wanted to be completely free. By shifting his weight and using his feet, Cormac kicked what he was wearing to the side of the bed.

Now that he was completely naked with Hermione, he returned to lying flat on his back. Hermione took this as a sign that it was time for her to continue with what she was expected to do. Hermione brought her right hand down the length of Cormac's torso to where his hard rod lay against his lower abdomen. She curled her fingers around his sensitive skin and started to pump her hand up and down on the teenaged boy.

Hermione wasn't at that for more than a few seconds until Cormac breathed out, "Put it in your mouth." He was lying there with his hands placed behind his head. Hermione couldn't see well in the early morning light, but Cormac had a look on his face that showed that he was pleased with himself. Hermione pursed her lips together for a second before she silently consented to the teenage boy's request.

The young Gryffindor moved her mouth to rest on just the tip of what was in her hand. She was not surprised to find the slightest amount of precum waiting for her. Hermione closed her eyes and allowed more than just the head of Cormac's length to enter her mouth. Hermione lifted her head with the muscles in her neck until her lips came into contact with the skin that indicated the bulb of Cormac's lower head. Hermione's lips released his skin and opened her mouth wider so that she could bob back down and receive more of him into her mouth. Hermione felt like Cormac's rod was threatening to strike the back of her tonsils, but in reality, she was only taking him three or four inches into her inexperienced orifice.

Cormac was reaching down with one hand into Hermione's hair. He was stroking her head slightly. Hermione didn't know how she felt about his petting. She thought that Cormac's intent was trying to be sweet letting her know that he appreciated her and what she was doing, but on the other hand, how sweet could the action be while he was deep in her mouth? Hermione decided that the current situation did not call for her to decipher what was sweet or not. Instead, she went back to her task at hand. Hermione was half-idly doing her duties. She sucked on Cormac's swollen tip and then would engulf as much as she could comfortably in her warm mouth. She was enjoying herself and was proud of the sounds that she was eliciting out of Cormac. She wasn't prepared for when Cormac - whether voluntarily or involuntarily - bucked his hips toward her.

Cormac's hardness pressed against the back of Hermione's throat. Something that she was not very experienced with or prepared for. She had to pull off of the teen. One hand instinctively moved to her throat - as if that would help anything. She went into a mild coughing spell that lasted five or six seconds.

Normally, Cormac would've made sure that Hermione was fine. Innately, he knew that he had just pressed a little farther in her mouth than she was expecting, but normally he was sweet enough to check on her. This was not one of those moments. The animal inside Cormac was roaring for more. Clearly, the stroking of her hair was just a ruse.

Hermione hadn't even sensed that the teenager was moving across the bed, but once she had recovered from her need to clear her throat, she took in a sharp intake of breath. She was pushed - borderline aggressively - from behind. Hermione caught herself with both her hands on the mattress in front of her.

"Cormac-" she wanted to start to scold him, but she couldn't get any more words out other than that. She was forced to breath in quickly again.

Cormac who was on his knees behind the other counselor had reached around his a hand and roughly took one of her breasts against his palm. The small handful fit perfectly in his grip. The soft flesh slowly fell from his fingertips and only Hermione's nipple rested between his thumb and forefinger. That caused Hermione's quick loss of breath.

"Ow-" Hermione hissed, but it wasn't the same kind of 'ow' when she stubbed a toe, or banged her head. Hermione was completely unaware of what this roughness from the teenager she had become so close with was doing to her body.

As Hermione reached up to remove Cormac's hand from her skin - the sensation was really walking a fine line from pain and pleasure, Hermione got bucked forward again, but this time Cormac had entered her. Hermione's first instinct was to scream. Clearly, Cormac couldn't thrust into her so deeply so easily without causing her immense pain, but it didn't hurt. It felt good. Real good.

Hermione's saliva still coated Cormac's hard rod. And that combined with Hermione's arousal at Cormac's brief rough play had made her more prepared than she could've imagined.

Hermione tried to turn around and get a look at Cormac's face, but he was in the shadow of the sunlight entering the cabin, and Hermione couldn't gain the balance to shift her head around to look at him completely anyways. Just when she would get herself balanced on the palms of her hands, Cormac would thrust into her, and unsettle her again. No matter how hard she tried to prepare herself, Cormac was driving into her with a force she didn't think humanly possible. And each time it threatened to throw her flat down on the mattress.

Hermione almost thought that Cormac forgot that she was a person. He was just slapping his skin against her backside again and again. For the slightest moment, Hermione almost felt like just an object.

"Oh, Hermione," Cormac breathed out as he pushed against her again. His hands gripped into Hermione's hips. He was using the skin on her sides to leverage more force for himself to drive into her. "Oh, Hermione." He groaned again.

He again knocked the teen in front of him off of the palms of her hands. She rested down on one shoulder. Her head was tilted to the side in a somewhat uncomfortable angle, but in the heat of the moment she couldn't tell that the position was somewhat painful. Hermione reached back with one hand and found Cormac's hand. Hearing him say her name, made her know that even in his primal lust, he had some sense of connection to her.

Her hand found his fingertips. At first, Hermione thought that he was brushing her reach aside, but he had removed his hand from her hip and took hers firm in a tight grip. Hermione worried that he was squeezing her so tightly that he was going to crush her fingers together.

As Cormac held Hermione's hand he was able to give her another minute of good deep thrusts until he sensed himself getting close to finishing. Cormac pulled out of her. Hermione thought that he had finished without any warning when he removed himself from her, but he had a little energy left.

"Flip over," Cormac grunted at her. He didn't instruct her, because the teen took all the responsibility on himself. With ease, he flipped Hermione from all fours to flat on her back. Hermione didn't know what was happening, so her first instinct was to cover herself in a protective fashion, but Cormac moved Hermione's hands and legs with ease to regain the access that he wanted. Cormac was back inside Hermione in a flash. Hermione was looking in the gorgeous boy's direction. His muscles tightened at every one of his movements. His smile at her appeared to be flawless, but something about his eyes made him seem like a different person she had never seen before. It may have just been the angle of the light in the cabin, but she couldn't see any whites in his eyes. It was intimidating. It was carnal. It was sexy.

Cormac looked down on Hermione as he thrust into her again and again. He watched the beautiful body of the young witch rock against the mattress in the cabin. Hermione's face seemed to twist with pleasure with each deep thrust that entered her. She wasn't a moaner - from the few bouts that they had had together, but her beautiful face twisted this way and that way, that always edged him on. He looked down as her small, yet perky breasts bounced up and down in time with his thrusts. She was perfection.

Cormac moved forward and brought his lips to hers. He kissed her deeply, while his hips jack hammered into her for a few final motions. Cormac quickly sat up and at the last possible second pulled out of Hermione and finished. His first ropes of seed were so forcefully released from him that they traveled up and struck Hermione under the chin and across her chest. His subsequent contractions fell around her belly button. Cormac collapsed on the bed to Hermione's side.

"Excuse me," Hermione said.

"You're excused," Cormac said feeling quite accomplished. His words were purely a reaction of smart-alecked retort

"You better clean this up, McLaggen," Hermione said to him.

"Since when do you call me 'McLaggen'?" Cormac rolled over onto his side with his eyebrows raised.

All she responded with was "Since when do you fuck me like that?"

A grin came across the teen's mouth. He kissed Hermione's forehead and went to get some toilet tissue. As he came back toward the bed and saw Hermione laying there like a slight mess, he thought to himself, _This is a girl that I can get behind_. He chuckled at his own play on words, before returning to the girl he was starting to fall for harder than he had realized.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you're still enjoying.**


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: I probably shouldn't sell this chapter short, but I have a few ideas of where to take the story. There's some longer chapters coming up leading to an exciting Camp Cup and a little surprise that you'll read shortly.**

**Chapter 41**

"Everyone gather close," Mr. Craig said waving all of his counselors down around the lowest row of the amphitheater seats. The group addressed his request by climbing down from some of the higher rows and scooting close together. The seating arrangement felt very forced and very uncomfortable.

Some of the counselors got the feeling that Mr. Craig was stalling for time, "So how is everyone doing?" He started asking a few counselors how the sessions were going by name. "Everything thing good, Wayne? Nicky? Bri?"

Everyone gave very bland responses. There was something a little off about the way Mr. Craig was behaving. Eventually, he couldn't find any other excuse to delay what he was going to say.

"I hate to lead the week off with this kind of negativity, but there is no way around it," the director began, "Enrollment of the campers for this week and next week are down," this was news to most of the counselors. They had some chatter among themselves before Mr. Craig continued. "We," he motioned to include his wife, "have tried everything we can to increase the numbers of campers, but we haven't found much of what we have done to be successful. With that," he paused, "we are going to need to ask some of you to take unpaid vacation."

There was a deafening silence. How were they going to decide who would stay and who would go? Was this even legal? How would some of the counselors handle this?

"Mrs. Craig and I have spent a lot of time trying to twist the books to make the money work, but I'm afraid this is the only way for Camp Craig to not lose money over the next two weeks."

Again, there was silence from everyone sitting in front of him.

"This week will go the same as usual. Everyone will be here to work, but next week we are going to ask three or four of you to take a week off," Mr. Craig told everyone.

All the counselors were twisting their heads from side to side wondering who would be selected for mandatory vacation.

"We had a hard time deciding who would be asked to take a short holiday," Mr. Craig explained, "and the fairest way that we could decide on was to first ask if anyone wanted to volunteer." He waited to see if anyone would pipe up and be the first to excuse themselves, but no one made a sound. Being a camp counselor was a good deal. The money wasn't a lot, but it was still money. And the work wasn't overly tasking. For the most part, the work was playing with kids. Maybe Nicky and Gary had a little more responsibility, but no one seemed keen on the idea of not getting paid to run around and have fun.

"I didn't think anyone would want to volunteer," Mr. Craig said trying to fake a smile, "The other option that we came up with, and we thought that this was the most fair, was the last people hired would be the first to be asked to 'volunteer'," everyone whipped their heads around trying to think who those three or four people would be.

"I will save everyone the hassle of trying to decipher who those would be. In no particular order, the first people on the metaphorical chopping block are: Hermione, Naomi, Wayne and Ross." Mr. Craig seemed to have an issue looking at the four of them in the eye. These were all first-year counselors. Logically, it made sense, but Hermione was painfully disappointed to hear her name.

Everyone continued to be silent.

"I know that it isn't ideal, but that's the plan that we have laid out now," he quickly added, "This could change. If all of a sudden, our enrollment numbers spike, we could keep everyone. We won't have plans solidified until Friday or Saturday." Those were the last words on the topic that Mr. Craig spoke on.

Hermione could sense that everyone was trying extra hard not to look in her direction. The other three were feeling the same way.

"On another note," Mr. Craig picked back up, "There is a lot riding on the Camp Cup this week."

With the change to a more pleasant topic, everyone seemed to sit up straighter and become a little more attentive.

"Some of you may know that my brother and I normally set a pretty simple wager on the competition," he elaborated, "The loser usually takes the winner and his wife to a very nice meal. Without revealing too much, the bill can get pretty high. This tradition goes back a long time. You may think that it is silly, but it's something we have always done," Mr. Craig got the feeling that he was losing the interest of his counselors, "Anyways, after a few glasses of very nice wine last night, my brother suggested that we raise the stakes for this week for one time only."

"How much are we talking about?" Bri asked curious how much her father and uncle were willing to spend on the betting of youth competition.

Mr. Craig was careful not to reveal too much. After he just disclosed to his counselors that several members would not be earning paychecks the following week due to tight financials, Mr. Craig didn't want to explain that the wager he was making with his brother was going to hopefully fund a vacation in Budapest with his wife.

"Enough for me to really care about it," Mr. Craig said. He didn't respond to any of Bri's other questions on the matter of the financials, "So that means that all of you," Mr. Craig sounded like he was addressing the crowd as a whole, but he was only looking at Cormac, "Need to really bring it this weekend."

All the heads in the seats in front of him nodded up and down.

"Well, I'm sorry to drop that kind of news on everyone, but it is my job to make sure everyone knows what is happening at camp," Mr. Craig apologized for something that was somewhat out of his control, "If everyone will see Mrs. Craig, she has the packets for all the information of the campers in your cabins." Mr. Craig stepped out of the front of everyone and seemed to exit the amphitheater.

Mrs. Craig called out the names of some of the cabins and the corresponding counselor stepped out and received a folder with all the information of the eight or-so campers that would be assigned to them.

Hermione was sitting trying to process all the information that had just been given to her. She had not been prepared to receive the information that she may or may not be working the following week. Her brain was trying to compute all the possible options and outcomes over the next week or so. She must've been making a very strained face while she was thinking because Naomi nudged her.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hermione told Naomi. Hermione's words, sadly, didn't fix how she was feeling.

"Does everyone have their list of campers?" Mrs. Craig addressed the group. No one said otherwise, so she continued, "Then let's get headed to meet the new campers."

The group filed up the amphitheater steps. There appeared to be two separate groups. The first group was moving speedily toward the entrance of camp. The other group were the four that were presently being asked to give up work for a week. The four of them walked in silence until they reached the gatehouse.

"You know what? This may not be so bad," Wayne tried to say with a positive spin.

"Why do you say that?" Naomi questioned her boyfriend's words.

"Maybe we could use a break," Wayne told her.

"I don't want a break. I like working here. It's easy and fun and the money isn't bad," Naomi told him. The counselors were never going to become millionaires working at Camp Craig, but for most of them it was their first real jobs.

"Yeah, I need all the money I make this summer to last me the rest of the year," Ross explained.

"I just don't know what I want to do with a week off," Hermione stated, "My parents are away on holiday. I guess I could go see friends-" Hermione was cut off.

"That's what we should do!" Naomi blurted out.

"Go see friends?" Wayne questioned.

"No, we should all go on holiday together!" Naomi explained.

"I just told you that I'm trying to save all the money that I can," Ross said to her.

"Well, it doesn't need to be anywhere crazy. We can probably get away on a nice vacation for pretty cheap." Naomi said trying to get other people excited.

"Well where are you thinking?" Wayne asked her.

"Well, we can all stay together in hostels, so that will be cheap, and we can probably find a cheap flight to a bunch of places. Berlin, Lisbon, Amsterdam. Anywhere we want. This is the first time that I've had real money. This would be a great way to spend it," Naomi was getting really excited with her brainstorming.

Just as she was finishing up, a few dust clouds were getting kicked up at the end of the road that led to the Camp Craig traffic circle. The buses for transporting the campers from the train station were just arriving.

The whole duration of the ride to the train station was filled with Naomi's ideas for getting away for a cheap holiday. Hermione couldn't handle all of the suggestions that Naomi was presenting. She did her best to ignore her quick rambling. Hermione was looking around the bus and when she looked over her right shoulder, her eyes came in contact with Cormac's. He was sitting a few rows behind her in the aisle seat.

Cormac winked at her.

"Help me," Hermione mouthed back in his direction.

Cormac scooted to the side and waved Hermione to go back and join him.

Hermione looked around to see if anyone would notice her, but it seemed the like coast was clear. She stood up and tried to carefully walk back toward where Cormac was sitting.

"Please stay seated!" the bus driver shouted looking in the back of his rearview mirror.

Hermione was so startled that she jumped and took three long steps to sit next to Cormac. Everyone's head snapped back to look at who the culprit was. Hermione was turning red. Cormac was trying to cover his mouth to keep him from laughing.

"You got me in trouble," Hermione wanted to smack him on the arm.

"I was trying to 'help' you," Cormac reminded her.

"Have you heard Naomi?" Hermione brought up to him.

"No," Cormac started, "surprisingly."

Hermione shot Cormac a dirty look. Yes, Naomi talked a lot. And yes, she was normally very loud, but he didn't need to point that out.

"What is she planning?" Cormac asked ignoring the shade that Hermione was giving him from the corners of her eyes.

Hermione finished the rest of the bus ride by regurgitating all of the different ideas Naomi had given them.

Cormac listened until they were stepping off of the bus and then he spoke, "How much money are you looking to spend?"

"I don't know why?" Hermione asked.

"I know some pretty great places," Cormac said.

"I don't think we want to spend very much, because not everyone has a lot of money," Hermione said without naming anyone by name.

"Well, what's your budget?" Cormac asked.

"I don't know if we decided that," Hermione told him.

"No, what's your personal budget?" Cormac continued.

Hermione hadn't thought about it. She was fortunate to never be wanting of money. Both Hermione's parents were dentists and in the Muggle world those are very good professions. Hermione wouldn't say that they were rich by any means, but there were definitely things that she and her family owned that most households didn't have.

"I don't know what my budget is. Why?" Hermione turned the question on him.

"Just curious," something in his eye made it seem like he had just had a spark of an idea. He changed the subject quickly, "How do your campers seem for this session?"

"They seem fine. I don't have a full cabin. I only have seven girls," Hermione pointed out.

"I think that is the trend for a lot of us. I only have six. I guess we really do have low enrollment numbers," Cormac told her.

Cormac and Hermione blindly followed the group of counselors that had headed to the train station into the only terminal hall. There were already fifty or so campers with all of their baggage. They would need to wait on roughly another fifty or so more.

All the counselors were mingling with the campers. They were embracing kids from previous weeks or previous years. Others were being introduced to new parents and first-timers to camp. Cormac and Hermione had volunteered to help start shepherding people toward the buses and vans for luggage.

"Hey, Cormac," Gary's voice was calling.

Both Cormac and Hermione turned to look in Gary's direction.

"Oh, shit. No," Cormac said softly to himself.

"What?" Hermione asked, but Gary was too close for Cormac to explain. Hermione couldn't see what the issue was, but Gary was shielding Hermione from the view of who he was walking with.

"Cormac, you remember Bryan Harsh," Gary said motioning to the boy that couldn't be older than eight.

"Yeah," Cormac said. He wasn't even pretending to fake the slightest interest.

Gary cleared his throat loudly, "And you remember his parents." Two adults were a few steps behind where Gary and Bryan were standing.

That forced Cormac to turn on his charisma. It was like watching night and day.

"Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Harsh, great to see you guys," Cormac immediately pepped up, "What can I do for you?"

Gary spoke, "Well, Bryan saw you and was wondering if there was any way that he could be in your cabin."

"Oh ok," Hermione could see that Cormac was already working to draft up a lie.

"And I know that you have two open beds, so we can move Bryan out of the Ducks' cabin and put him in the Hares' cabin." Gary said.

"Yeah, but are we going to need to get the ok from Mr. Craig?" Cormac asked somewhat sounding hopeful.

"I already asked him," Gary said.

"Mrs. Craig?" Cormac questioned.

"Yup," Gary said stone-faced.

Hermione could almost see steam escaping out of Cormac's ears. It seemed like he had been defeated. He twisted his face. It almost looked like he was trying to get something out of his teeth with his tongue.

"Fine," Cormac said with a noticeable sigh.

Bryan nor Mr. and Mrs. Harsh didn't appear to notice Cormac's indifference to the matter. Bryan actually seemed to be over the moon when he heard that Cormac had allowed him into the Hares' cabin.

"Seriously? Really? Oh, this is great! You're my favorite counselor, Cormac," Bryan was borderline star struck.

"Yeah, it'll be great" Cormac said painfully unconvincingly, "Why don't you get all your stuff on the vans and head out toward the buses."

"Sure, Cormac," Bryan said struggling to carry all of his luggage out to the camp vehicles. Mr. and Mrs. Harsh left the small circle to follow Gary.

"Fuck," Cormac sighed to Hermione once Bryan was out of earshot.

"What's wrong?" Hermione seemed confused. Cormac was such an arrogant prat at times, Hermione thought that he would be beside himself to have someone in his cabin that appeared to worship the very ground that Cormac walked on.

"I hate that kid," Cormac said putting his head in his hands.

"That seems a little extreme," Hermione pointed out to him. It was true that Cormac didn't actually 'hate' the young camper, but he just found him to be painfully annoying.

Cormac then went on to explain all the ways that Bryan annoyed Cormac. "He follows me around everywhere. He always tries to copy everything I do - do you see that stupid red hat he has on? He's wearing that because I wore one like that last summer. I won't get a moment to myself all week, because I know that as soon as we get to camp he is going to take all the same sessions as me."

Hermione tried not to say what was on her mind, but she couldn't keep it in, "Cormac, that's exactly what Dayton does!"

"Yeah, but-" he didn't have a good point to follow those two words.

Hermione did a better job internalizing what she wanted to say next. She felt bad for poor Bryan. Under completely different circumstances, Cormac, Dayton and Bryan would've been the Three Amigos, but Bryan could never fit in with those two as hard as he tried.

Bryan was a few years younger than Dayton, and at that age with boys, the age difference is thought to be 'annoying'. Bryan was just a chubby little boy that was trying to fit in and be liked by the camp stud that was Cormac McLaggen. While Dayton was everything that Cormac would've wanted in a little brother, Bryan was not. Bryan didn't appear to have any outstanding athletic talent, he wasn't destined to be as handsome as Cormac, and he was nowhere near as charismatic as the teenage counselor. Bryan sadly reminded Hermione of a young Neville Longbottom with a red hat, glasses and an annoying nasally voice.

Cormac was correct that Bryan would try to spend every second that he could with the counselor. Bryan was waiting patiently outside the buses when the rest of Camp Craig headed out of the train station.

"Hey, Cormac," Bryan said jumping up and down waving his hat in the air trying to gain Cormac's attention.

Cormac did his best to ignore the camper, but he couldn't justify not looking up when he felt everyone's eyes on him. "Yeah, Bryan?"

"Which bus are we taking?" Bryan was eager to get a good seat next to the handsome teen.

Cormac twisted his face into a grimace again. Hermione was the only one that seemed to notice it. The teen pointed to one of the buses defeated, and then he turned to Hermione, "Save me a seat?"

Hermione nodded.

Cormac excused himself to go check on the luggage vans.

Hermione sat next to Cormac on the bus ride home and hardly got a word in. During the ride, Bryan was talking at a mile a minute. Hermione thought that it was adorable that this boy couldn't seem to get enough of Cormac's attention. At the same time, she thought it was unbearably rude of Cormac to be so indifferent to the boy.

"And it turned out that I've had asthma for almost my whole life, but the doctors finally decided that it was just a mild case brought on when I exercise too much." Bryan was sharing his story about his most recent doctor's appointment with anyone that would listen. Sadly, no one was really listening.

Hermione felt bad for the boy so she tried to give him her undivided attention. Bryan didn't seem to notice that Cormac was silently banging his head on the seat in front of him. Hermione fought the urge to pinch the handsome teenager- hard.

The buses pulled up outside the Gatehouse and everyone filed out. Cormac immediately went missing as soon as Hermione paced from the lowest step on the bus. She searched high and low, but couldn't find him anywhere. She wasn't the only person that appeared to be scanning the chaotic crowd for the camp golden boy.

"Hey, where do Cormac go?" Bryan's voice piped up from behind Hermione. The round little boy had a rolling bag on wheels and a duffle bag thrown across his shoulder. The poor camper had the duffle loosened to a length that every time he took a step, the weight of the bag would clatter against his knees and threaten to buckle him over.

Hermione stood with Bryan until all the other campers were ready to head over to the auditorium. By the nature of the circumstances, Hermione followed in step with Bryan. She was still slightly feeling sorry for the boy, but they were also at an awkward distance where they were close enough to be considered "walking together", but also distant enough not to strike up a conversation. Eventually, Bryan fell behind the pace of the rest of the campers. His poorly sized duffle back was greatly crippling his ability to walk efficiently.

"Do you want me to help you with your bag?" Hermione asked Brian. She looked at her wristwatch and she was worried that she was going to be late.

"Sure," Bryan responded.

Hermione reached out a hand, and instead of being handed the bag with the shoulder strap, the boy extended the handle of the rolling bag.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take the other one?" Hermione questioned.

"Yeah, I'm sure. This is my lucky bag," Brian said trying to make a motion that acknowledged the bag, but intend it struck him in the back of the knees and slightly unbalanced him.

"What makes it your lucky bag?" Hermione asked.

The camper squinted his face trying to think of a decent response, but all he came back with was, "I don't know. I just know that Cormac had the same one last year."

Hermione was now starting to get the feeling that the boy's idolization of Cormac was nearing an unhealthy obsession.

Bryan and Hermione had fallen so far behind, that Mr. and Mrs. Craig must have thought that everyone was present, because they were already speaking. The pair could hear the camp director and his wife's voices over the speakers.

"Let's try to be as quiet as possible," Hermione said as the two of them dropped off the bags at the top of the amphitheater stairs, before they headed down to join the rest of camp.

Hermione was planning on standing in the back of the crowd to be as unobtrusive as possible. It seemed polite. She had assumed that Bryan would wait by her side, but he was already walking down the steps of the amphitheater turning his head this way and that way. Finally, his eyes found Cormac. Cormac was sitting on the left half of the seats and was all the way in the middle. Normally, when camp enrollment was full there wouldn't be any space between people that were sitting, but since the numbers were slashed by almost a quarter, there was a little bit of wiggle room between the people on either side of someone sitting. There wouldn't be enough for someone to comfortably fix in between two people, but Bryan didn't care.

"Excuse me," he said as he bumped into people's knees. "Pardon me," he said as he knocked into the back of people's heads that were sitting in the row in front of him. He did his best to side-shimmy his way next to Cormac.

Bryan finally reached the spot that he wanted to sit in. Bryan did his best to wedge in between Cormac and one of the campers on Cormac's right, but Dayton Ward move closer to Cormac and looked at Bryan like he was a disease. Bryan, not taking the hint, tried to back his rear end into the tight spot between Cormac and Dayton, but Dayton put his hands on Bryan's back and refused to allow him to sit.

"Bryan, please take a seat. You're interrupting," Mr. Craig said, though no one heard him, because everyone was watching the interaction.

"I'm trying," Bryan said, almost pleading to sit down.

"Jeez," Cormac toned in, "Just sit here." Cormac pointed to the other side of Dayton.

It wasn't the same as sitting next to Cormac, but it seemed good enough for the little boy.

Hermione cringed from the top of the amphitheater the whole time. It was difficult to watch. She was almost ready to admit that Bryan Harsh was a little annoying.

By the end of the first day of that week, most of the counselors seemed to drag to the end of day counselors' meeting. Going onto their fourth consecutive week of Camp Craig was beginning to bring on the first signs of fatigue. Maybe a little vacation would be worth it, Hermione thought to herself as she took in a big yawn when she strolled into the amphitheater with Naomi at her side.

Mr. and Mrs. Craig were already waiting for the counselors. Everyone seemed to be present except for one person. Cormac jogged around the corner. He looked positively disheveled. Hermione had seen the looks of some broken men before. Cormac didn't look like an inmate sentenced to death row, but he definitely had seen better days. He climbed up to the third row of bleachers, a row that no one else was sitting in, and he laid along the bench face down.

"Everything ok, Cormac?" Mr. Craig asked him. Clearly, Cormac was exaggerating, because this seemed a little extreme.

"I will pay anyone anything to take Bryan Harsh out of my cabin," Cormac said. His voice was muffled because his lips were pressed against the aluminum of the seat.

"Come on, Cormac," Mrs. Craig started, "You are one of our all-star counselors. Can't you handle one boy?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mrs. C," Again his voice was difficult to decipher against the metal obstructing his mouth.

"It's just one week," Gary pointed out to Cormac.

"But it's hell," Cormac explained, "I've always run a tight ship," - that was a lie - "The Hares have always had a very harmonious cabin," - also a lie - "And now, it's utter chaos." - An exaggeration.

"You weren't always a perfect camper," Gary stated.

"Don't you dare say that I'm as annoying as Bryan Harsh," Cormac sat up and stared Gary in the eye. By this point, Cormac was now joking and everyone knew it. He just needed a minute to get some steam out.

"You had your moments when you seemed to make my life a living hell," Gary said. A few people snickered.

"Et tu, Gary?" Cormac pretended to stare down at his chest and remove a dagger from his heart.

"Ok that's enough," Mr. Craig said with a chuckle, "Let's finish this up so that everyone can hit the hay."

Mr. Craig and Mrs. Craig gave the standard update of the first day of camp, followed by Gary and Nicky saying a little. Following Nicky's segment, everyone was dismissed for the evening.

Before the end of day meeting had started, Hermione was in a conversation with Naomi, Wayne and Ross about possible vacation ideas. That conversation was struck back up as they headed for Lower Bridge.

"So, like I was saying, flights to Dublin, Paris, and Madrid, could be pretty cheap because they're so close. And we could stay in hostels for a week and it could be awesome." Naomi was really fixed on this idea of a vacation.

"I don't know how I feel about taking a trip," Ross confessed for another time. Ross wasn't being stingy or cheap, he just didn't get to always have money, and he didn't want to spend a majority of the money that he would be earning that summer on a trip with some people that he got along fine with, but wouldn't consider them more than new friends.

Naomi had already understood that Ross didn't want to go, but she continued to keep him involved in the conversation, because she felt it would be rude and exclusive if she didn't. After he turned the idea down a fourth time; however, she decided that she wouldn't push the envelope with him anymore.

"Well, that makes perfect sense, but how about you two?" She turned to address Wayne and Hermione.

"I would be up for it," Wayne said, "But I'm with Ross. If there was the opportunity to work, rather than go somewhere, I would choose to work, but if we are being forced to take vacation - I wouldn't say no to a trip."

"Yeah, and I'd either do one of three things. Go back home for a week to an empty house, maybe try to see my friends from school," - that reminded Hermione that she needed to write both Ron and Harry, she had neglected them all summer - "Or go on a quick trip with you guys."

"Are you guys still talking about taking a short trip somewhere? I know a place."

**A/N: So what do you guys think about the idea of a trip?**


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: Here you go everyone!**

**Chapter 42**

Hermione wrote the same letter to both Ron and Harry:

_Hi-_

_I know I haven't written to you yet this summer, but things have been pretty busy - and let's face it, you wouldn't even think about writing me, if you hadn't gotten this letter. Camp has been eventful to say the least. The group of counselors is great. I've gotten pretty close with some of them, but it makes me miss you more. The money is pretty decent and the work isn't that hard._

_I hope you are having a great summer at home, and can't wait to see you soon. Please write back!_

_-Hermione_

_P.s. It looks like I am heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia with some other counselors on Saturday. It should be fun._

The night before, Cormac had told the group of counselors that were expected to take "forced vacation" all about the beautiful city of Dubrovnik. The Mediterranean views, the gorgeous walls of the city, and all the things to do really jumped out to the group.

Naomi had taken it upon herself to look into the logistics of the vacation, once everyone had expressed interest in the trip. Naomi planned on doing all the research and booking the necessary travel and lodging plans the following day.

Cormac had told them that flights could be bought for cheap, and that there were hostels in the center of the city. Hermione was pretty certain that Cormac McLaggen had lived the kind of life that would keep him living a more pampered lifestyle that would keep him out of the grungy living quarters of a hostel. Regardless, she didn't have a hard time believing that he had been to the city or that the activities he was suggesting would be well-worth it; however, they did sound like some of the things could be pricey.

Hermione exited her cabin a little earlier than usual with the envelopes addressed to her two best friends in her hand. Hermione quickly crossed the camp and deposited them in the outbox of the camp in the Gatehouse. Immediately after she knew that the letters were safe, Hermione trekked back across the grounds to her campers' cabin, where she escorted them to the cafeteria for the first full day of camp for the week.

The meal was quiet like most first breakfasts of a new session, most of the campers were excited, but weren't comfortable with everyone at camp just yet to let their full self out. Mr. Craig sounded the loud bullhorn and the first sessions began. Hermione led a group of campers to the Academic Building where she was deciding to lead a workshop on physics and gravity. She had the idea of hosting a soapbox derby.

Hermione had been struck by the inspiration while watching the movie with the campers. During the opening credits - before she had lost complete interest in the film - the protagonist was seen building a soapbox derby racer with his father. Hermione did her best to teach a quick lesson on physics and the difference between kinetic and potential energy. Obviously the campers were only moderately interested in the textbook application. Only the most academic of students would sign up for a session in the Academic Building, but when Hermione explained that people would have the opportunity to hold a soapbox derby, all the campers seemed excited. The announcement of the event itself was the last thing that was shared before Hermione and the other counselors led the group back to the amphitheater and the next session.

Hermione had to track down Wayne and ask him if he would have the availability to craft up a dozen or so, toy sized cars in the woodshop that afternoon. She felt like it was a big ask, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem," Wayne responded to Hermione's request.

Hermione knew that it was wrong to spring this on Naomi's boyfriend. The polite thing would've been to ask for Wayne's help before she had already made the promise to her campers, but she knew that the ever-helpful Wayne wouldn't be able to say no.

"That shouldn't take me too long," Wayne told her, "I think we have a template for making little cars somewhere in the woodshop. I can start on those while the campers get underway with their picture frames that they are working on."

"Thank you so much, Wayne. You're the best." Hermione flung her arms around his torso and hugged him. It wasn't until that moment that Hermione realized how disappointed her campers would've been if they hadn't had the opportunity to follow through with their mini-soapbox derby. And that just made her feel more grateful toward Wayne.

Hermione's next session was arts and crafts. She had a hard time thinking of what to busy her campers with. She felt that all of her inspiration had been sucked up by the idea of the soapbox derby. Giving up trying to think of anything outstandingly creative for the period, she turned the campers over to spend the hour however they wanted. Most settled on braiding friendship bracelets or creating piles of gooey matchsticks with the wooden Popsicle sticks and glue.

At the end of the last period of the day, Hermione and Naomi were cleaning the room from the cooking session. There was brownie batter smudged over most of the work stations. The girls didn't mind, because for the first time in their history of using the kitchen, the entire building smelled like fresh baking, as opposed to the charred depths of hell.

The door swung open slowly, while someone backed into the building. Wayne was clearly hoping that someone could help hold the door for him, so Naomi skittered across the floor and held the door open for him. Wayne was walking into the room with some pride on his face. He had a plastic box that used to hold wood shavings, but it was empty for now, except for roughly fifteen uniformly created wooden toy cars.

"Wayne, they're perfect," Hermione said leaving the rag she was using to clean one of the workbenches with.

Wayne smiled, as the girls approached him.

"Can I touch them?" Hermione asked looking down in the box.

"Of course," Wayne still looked amused, "That's what they're here for."

Hermione picked one up and held it in her palm first. It was a little longer than the length of her hand. Next, she placed it on the flat surface of the nearest cooking station.

"And this only took you one hour to make all of these?" Hermione sounded amazed, as she reached into the box and took out a second one.

Naomi was also reaching into the box, while Wayne hovered near the two of them, "It wasn't as hard as you think. The template made everything easy. Screwing on the wheels took about half the time."

Both Hermione and Naomi turned their attention to the little rubber tires that were assembled. The girls brought the wheels to the surface of the counter and moved their hands back and forth as if they didn't expect them to go round and round.

"Amazing," Hermione said before she returned the objects to the plastic box.

"That's pretty cool," Cormac was saying at the dinner table.

Hermione had shared her idea and plans with anyone that was at the table with her. She couldn't stop talking about it.

"Yeah, they're awesome," Hermione couldn't help but rave about the work that Wayne had put into the little vehicles, "But I've been going on about these things. How was everyone else's day?"

Everyone went around the table and started to describe their day. Hermione felt bad that she quickly lost interest in everyone's day, but it was just the first time that she had a moment to start eating.

Naomi was telling everyone about the trouble she had of the day when Cormac leaned over toward Hermione, "So I heard Naomi on the phone with some travel agent today."

Hermione was sucking in a long noodle of spaghetti into her mouth so she couldn't talk. Instead, she made a motion with her eyes that told Cormac to continue speaking.

"That's all that I know," Cormac confessed, "But I forgot to tell you about this one old church a little ways away from the town center."

"Church?" Hermione had a questioning tone in her voice.

"You might want to visit it by yourself," Cormac took at a hushed whisper.

Hermione didn't know what to make of that, because a dark head of hair covered in a red cap, popped up.

"Hey, Cormac," Bryan Harsh said. He placed his tray of food - which was mostly sweets - on the table between Cormac and Hermione.

The pair of counselors looked at each out briefly. They shared the same quizzical look. There was no way this boy was going to try to sit himself among all of these counselors. But they were wrong.

"Excuse me, can you move over, please?" Bryan said to Hermione.

She couldn't deny that at least the boy was polite. Hermione, shocked, slid to the side so that the camper could sit down next to his idol. Bryan seemed very pleased with himself.

"Judas," Cormac spat at Hermione. In Cormac's eyes, it was Hermione's weakness that sealed the fate of Bryan joining them at the table.

"Who's that?" Bryan piped up. He already had frosting on his chin.

"Her," he pointed at Hermione.

"No, that's not her name," Bryan said, taking a bite out of some cake.

"It's her nickname. It's what all her friends call her," Cormac said smiling and nodding.

"No it's not," Hermione tried to explain to the young boy, but it was too late. If Cormac thought it was amusing to call Hermione 'Judas', then Bryan was definitely going to do it.

Cormac's mood seemed to shift to a lighter mood by seeing Hermione's discomfort in being called Judas. Cormac had a mild smile on his face, while Hermione seemed to look a little weary at the end of the meal, when they were leaving the building.

"Ok, see you later, Judas," Bryan called out, "Hey, Cormac, where are you going now? The Camp Store or the fire pit?"

"Neither," Cormac responded too quickly. Hermione noticed that Dayton was close by wondering where Cormac was going as well.

"Then where?" Bryan asked.

"Probably to my cabin," Cormac responded.

"Can I come?"

"NO," Cormac's harsh words were barely noticed by the camper.

"Ok," Bryan said, and turned to Hermione, "What about you, Judas?"

"Me?" Hermione asked. She was surprised this little Hare cared, "I think I'm supposed to work in the Camp Store." Truthfully, she had forgotten what she was supposed to do with this chunk of time. All the schedules of the previous weeks were blending into a confusing mess in her mind.

"Ok, I'll go with you," Bryan turned to head toward the Camp Store.

Amazed by the interaction, Hermione looked around for an answer. Had she just become Bryan Harsh's second favorite person at camp?

When Hermione looked around, the only face she met was Cormac's. He shrugged at her in response to her questioning look.

"I guess I'll see you later," Cormac said.

"I guess you can go hide in your cabin from an eight year old," Hermione said to him before he turned on his heels to walk back toward Lower Bridge.

Hermione turned around when she heard her name - or her new nickname, rather.

"That's not my name," she told Bryan for the tenth time, but each time that she told him that - sounding more and more annoyed, the more the boy seemed to enjoy using the name "Judas" to refer to her.

Hermione went to open the door, but Bryan beat her to it. He held the door opened for Hermione to walk through. Even though the boy was annoying, his parents raised him to be very polite.

"I'm going to go get in line," Bryan said taking out a few notes from out of his pockets.

Hermione looked around, and it seemed like the Camp Store was running smoothly and was fully staffed. Hermione cut the line and approached Gary, "Am I supposed to be helping in the store right now?"

Gary looked over his shoulder and saw two counselors working in the back, and he looked out front and saw three more, mingling with the campers making sure that they were not abusing the camp equipment.

"It doesn't look like you are," Gary responded, "You can't remember where you are supposed to be?"

"No," Hermione was slightly embarrassed to admit it.

"Maybe you were supposed to be by the fire pit?" Gary suggested.

Those were all the words that were exchanged between the two, because the horde of campers was beginning to encroach on Hermione's back and was working to push her out of the way to access Gary and the register.

Silently, Hermione slunk out of the Camp Store and made her way toward the fire pit. By the time Hermione reached the circle of wooden benches, the fire was already blazing. People were creating s'mores, a bunch of people were chatting beside the flames, and several were just enjoying staring into the embers. Hermione looked around and found the highest ranking person on duty and asked if there was anything that she needed to do.

The counselor of the Lady Ducks, was grateful for Hermione offering some extra help, but didn't think that Hermione was responsible for helping out at the fire pit. The Lady Duck told Hermione that she thought she remembered seeing Hermione's name on the list of people that were supposed to work at the Camp Store.

"Oh, ok," Hermione said ending the conversation there.

Hermione Granger was never one for shrugging off responsibility or looking for the easy way out, but she reasoned that she didn't see the sense in walking back and forth between the two spots when neither the Camp Store nor the fire pit seemed like they needed her help. Hermione thought really hard to make sure that she wasn't needed anywhere else, but she was certain that if her name was on any list it was either the two places that she had already visited.

Feeling relieved that she wasn't missing from anywhere, she went to relax a little. The fire seemed enjoyable, so she sat out there for a little, but since there wasn't anyone she was exactly interested in striking up a conversation with, she excused herself silently and turned to walk down the path toward her counselor's cabin.

Hermione walked up to the few steps that led to the landing of her cabin door and noticed that the lights were on. She was disappointed in herself. She hated being wasteful. She didn't have a strong stance on being overly environmental, but she thought that she was more responsible than leaving her cabin lights on all day. She pushed through the doorway.

"Hey," Cormac said lying on his front on Hermione's bed.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione stopped mid-step and just looked at him.

"Where I come from if someone says 'hello', you greet them back," Cormac said without lifting his eyes up from the book that was on top of Hermione's bed.

"First of all," Hermione started, "You said 'hey' - which is much less formal than 'hello'. And second, where I come from you don't show up unannounced and make yourself at home on someone's bed."

"You make a good point. We both made good points," Cormac said dismissively.

"No you didn't," Hermione said regaining the ability to walk. She was really looking forward to stripping out of her camp clothes and getting into something fresh and clean, but that hope was ruined now that Cormac was around.

Cormac still had his head down in the book that Hermione had finished about a week ago.

"You still didn't tell me what you were doing in my cabin," Hermione said. She made her way to her bathroom and left the door open. Even if she couldn't get out of her clothes, she could at least wash her face. That would be somewhat refreshing.

Hermione could tell from Cormac's tone that he wasn't giving her his full attention, but he did answer her question, "I told Bryan that I was going to be in my cabin. So that is where he will expect me to be."

"So why did you come here?" Hermione asked bringing a towel with her to wipe her face dry.

"Know thine enemy, Granger. I believe it was William Shakespeare who said that," Cormac still didn't lift his head up.

"I don't think he did," Hermione rolled her eyes. She had just finished the drying process and tossed her towel over the top of her dresser door. The weight of the towel took the door with it. There was a muffled slam of wood banging into wood with the extra barrier of the towel lessening some of the force. Cormac looked up. He was taken back by Hermione for a second. Every time that he looked at her nowadays, she appeared to be more striking and more stunning each time his eyes rested on her.

Hermione was just turning around from the dresser when he peered up at her. She was swiping some of the wet hair that was dampened, when she washed her face, out of her eyes. Cormac closed his book and just looked in her direction with the corners of his lips moving upward.

"What?" Hermione asked him. She couldn't help but start to smile at him based on the way that his eyes were looking at her.

Cormac closed the book, and gracefully swung a leg over the edge of the bed. As he was rising to his feet, he spoke, "You are something else." His voice was soft, and full of admiration.

Hermione thought that she heard what he had said, but she couldn't be certain, "What did you say?"

Cormac approached her silently. His eyes didn't waver from looking directly into her mystical irises. As he got closer and closer, his own eyes tensed up as he stared into the depths of her orbs. There was a magical world of intricate brown spider webs that gifted Hermione with the beautiful color of her eyes. As he got closer and closer, shades of yellow and flecks of green, hardly noticeable, intermingled giving her the semblance of time hardened amber surrounding her pupils.

"What?" Hermione asked him. The way Cormac was looking at her and was approaching her made her uneasy in the best way possible. She couldn't keep eye contact with him any longer. She moved her eyes down to look at her sock-covered feet,

"Hold on," Cormac said as he moved his hands toward Hermione. His left hand fell on her waist as delicate as a snowflake on a winter day. He spoke as his right hand approached her as if Hermione were a wild animal that he was scared to startle, "I've never noticed," Hermione felt her cheeks brighten up as he spoke. Her eyes met his, giving him a perfect view "You have the faintest specks of green in your eyes."

The handsome teenager had tilted Hermione's head so that they were almost standing nose to nose. There was a moment of silence. Hermione didn't know what to say. She had no idea what her own body was doing at that moment. She could've been standing with a giant goofy smile on her face, or with her mouth agape like a carp, but she knew it was neither of those, because as she realized that Cormac was staring deeper and deeper into her eyes, she felt a shy smile creep over her lips.

After five seconds of silence, Hermione registered what he had said about the color of her eyes. She had never been aware that there were hints of green in them. She asked the obviously easy question - no matter how pointless it was, "Where?"

Hermione was staring directly back into Cormac's face. She knew that he had smiled as soon as the crow's feet by the corners of his eyes appeared. Maybe it wasn't crow's feet because, what teenager had crow's feet?

Cormac removed his right hand from under Hermione's chin. A sudden warmth retracted from the tip of Hermione's neck as he pulled his arm away.

Cormac deposited his hand on Hermione's reddened cheek and pivoted his hand so that his thumb could indicate where Hermione had the faintest traces of the color in question inside her eyes.

"Here." Cormac touched gingerly and a spot under her eyes close to where her eyelids met her actual eye. It tickled Hermione's eyelashes.

"And here." Cormac reached to the corner of Hermione's eye that was closest to her ear. Again he brushed against her eyelashes. She refused to blink away from him.

"And the smallest bit here." Cormac slid his thumb along the sensitive skin around her eye and rested it a little ways away from where it was previously resting.

That was the final straw. His delicate touches - as sweet as they were - tickled her too much. Hermione took one of her free hands and dragged his fingers away from her eyelashes. She also couldn't help but blink rapidly to relieve the need to itch. When she blinked, Cormac seemed to be lifted out of some trance. Hermione noticed that he had a look of utter confusion across his face. He looked as if he had been confunded. Hermione couldn't help but point it out to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Cormac regained himself, "Nothing." He bared his teeth in a wide grin, when he looked back down at the girl. As he looked at her, he thought that she could take the world from him and he would be just fine with it as long as he was with her.

Hermione noticed the happy expression come across his face, "You're smiling. Why are you smiling?"

"I'm smiling because you're smiling," Cormac pointed out to her. His lips were pulled all the way across his teeth. If it had been possible, Hermione smiled even harder.

Cormac took one more look at Hermione before he couldn't contain his emotions any longer. Against the theme of all of his gentle touches, Cormac brought his lips down hard against Hermione's. His force knocked her back one step. She tried to balance herself, but once her momentum was moving backwards, Cormac kept his feet moving in her direction. She was completely at the mercy of his movements. Hermione was forced backwards until the heels of her feet backed into the wall of her cabin.

Hermione's back slammed into the side of the cabin and it almost knocked the wind out of her. She reached back with one hand to brace herself against the wall, but the wooden paneling snuck up on her quicker than she had expected. Her other hand rested on Cormac's midsection.

Cormac's tongue pushed its way into Hermione's mouth, which she was consciously waiting for. Their lips pressed against each other while they kissed heatedly. Cormac had one hand near Hermione's hair, resting along her ear. His other hand was gripping into the fabric of Hermione's counselor's shirt at the exact spot where her lowest rib was.

Hermione couldn't feel her body. She was aware of where she was, and what was happening, but her heart was racing so fast and her brain was working so quickly that it seemed like she lost the ability to control her motions. This felt silly, since this wasn't the first time this had happened with this particular boy, but Cormac seemed to have an ability to make simple things cause her heart to skip a beat.

Hermione realized she could control her hands, when she felt her fingers grip against the splintered wood of the cabin wall. She flinched momentarily as something poked her finger. Neither of the teenagers stopped with their kissing, but Cormac did make a swift move.

Cormac lifted Hermione into the air. This time it wasn't the same motion as all the other times, where he would lift her straight into the air and Hermione would wrap her legs around Cormac's waist. This time, Cormac lifted her straight up, but swept an arm at the bend in Hermione's knees. Hermione would describe the way that he was cradling her either as the way a bride is carried, or as a baby. Neither descriptions seemed to fit the scenario, because by no means did Hermione consider Cormac husband material, and referring to herself as a baby may be a little too innocent for what was about to happen.

Hermione thought that Cormac was going to probably lead them to bed, which she didn't think she would have any objections to, but Cormac surprised her. Cormac was moving her so gently and delicately, she felt like she was being lowered in water. Hermione's head was cushioned by her hair as Cormac laid her down on the floor.

Hermione felt the taut muscles of the athletic teen slowly rest his weight on top of her. Hermione was pleased that she was sandwiched between a metaphorical rock and a hard place. Once Cormac thought that he wasn't going to hurt Hermione, he brought his lips down to Hermione's neck. He was kissing the piece of flesh that was closest to where Hermione's ear met the rest of her head.

Hermione had an involuntary shudder come over her shoulders and up the rest of her body. The back of her head ground into the wooden planks of the floor. It was not very comfortable for her.

"Cormac, the bed is right there," Hermione said trying to shift her weight so that she could balance on a comfortable tuft of hair.

The teenage girl let out a muffled groan as Cormac's lips trailed from Hermione's earlobe toward her neck. Again, she had shivers of pleasure roll up her back. For a second time, the rough floor didn't feel good against the back of her skull.

"Cormac-" she went to repeat what she had just said.

"I need you now," Cormac told her. Again, it sounded like the animal was coming back out.

Hermione didn't protest, but she wasn't really looking forward to any rough treatment on the floor. Hermione's silence seemed like enough consent for Cormac to continue.

Cormac rolled off of Hermione, and sat on his bottom quickly. He was moving so fast, that it took him a few tries to be able to kick his shoes off. Once his shoes were on the ground, he stood up to start to remove his lower layers. Clearly, he wasn't kidding when he said that he needed Hermione in that exact moment.

Hermione was on her back looking up at him. He was moving so frantically, that she was worried that his rushed movements were going to translate to their sex. Her mind was quickly flooded with an image of her back covered in rough loose splinters - the reality of that happening was slim - but it was enough to cause her discomfort. Cormac was just deposited his shorts and underwear in a pile on the floor and was about to kneel down next to Hermione so that he could crawl on top of her.

"Stop," Hermione piped up.

Shocked, Cormac froze on one knee. He probably looked quite funny, half-naked with an erection at full mast.

Hermione didn't expect him to completely hold still. It took her a second to continue, "Grab that."

She had pointed to the towel that was on the door of her dresser. Cormac did as he was told and dropped it into Hermione's hands. The carnal mood had been disrupted, but Hermione had managed to lay the towel under her. It was a little damp, but it would at least offer her some protection from what she was assuming was going to be a rough ride.

Hermione was still clothed, but on her back in a position that appeared to be 'ready' in Cormac's opinion. He approached her again, and lowered his weight on top of Hermione. He kissed her lips for a few moments, before he couldn't hide what it was that he really wanted. Cormac's hands reached down to the waistband of Hermione's shorts. He grabbed everything and started to pull them down. With her help, the pair of them had Hermione's bottom layers in a pile next to Cormac's.

Hermione thought that there was going to be time before Cormac got his hands all over her since she still had her top on, but she was wrong. Cormac drove down with two fingers inside Hermione. This had taken her by surprise, and the little yelp she gave let Cormac know that she was not expecting his movements. A crooked smile came across Cormac's face as he started to flex his fingers and wrist.

Cormac was hovering over the top of Hermione. He was resting most of his weight on his knees and some weight through his left hand. His middle and ring fingers were curling inside Hermione's body and his hand was flexing into her over and over. Hermione's back bent for a brief second as her mouth hung agape for a moment as she felt an orgasm rock her body. She didn't even have a second to relax the muscles in her back before a second wave of pleasure started to build in her. The coming wave was hovering right around the apex. It was sweet torture. The feeling was incredible, but Hermione wanted that blast of pleasure chemicals that would pulse through her entire body. Cormac moved his arm a fraction faster and that was all it took. Hermione arched her back so hard even her neck had to roll back. She was grateful that Cormac removed his fingers from her, because she wasn't sure if she could continue flexing her back muscles. There was a likely possibility that they were going to lock up or cramp.

Hermione just opened her eyes. She had realized that they must've rolled to the back of her head. When she looked down, she saw that Cormac was on his knees sitting up tall. Hermione looked down between her legs, and Cormac was definitely ready for a little more. With the lights of the cabin on, Hermione could see all of Cormac's manhood in its full glory. It was impressive. Maybe a little daunting. A piece of Hermione wished that the lights were out so that she didn't have to see what she was in for, but of course, she knew that her body would be fine, no matter how impressive Cormac looked.

Cormac moved his palm up to his mouth and appeared to lick his palm. He brought that hand down to his rod and did his best to coat the tip of his member with a little of his saliva as well as whatever precum had pooled at the tip of his slit. Cormac didn't say anything as he placed himself at Hermione's entrance. Mostly by gravity, Cormac lowered himself into the beautiful Gryffindor princess. Cormac pushed himself to the hilt. Hermione's lower lips engulfed him with her warmth and slickness. The hardest part was over. There was no need to go slow now.

Hermione's young and willing body provided all the lubrication the pair needed. From his knees Cormac did the best that he could to push deeper and deeper into Hermione. With each of his thrusts, Hermione didn't think that he could get any deeper in her, but he continued to amaze her.

Cormac's movements first started off with his attempt to apparently reach for Hermione's cervix. He was methodical in his pace. It was like the beat of a bass drum in a song. But as slow and repetitive as it was, it was deep. Hermione did the best she could to brace herself before the impending spearing that she was going to take, but it was difficult to brace off of anything from her vantage point on the ground. A soft sound emitted out of the back of her throat after Cormac drove as far as he could. It was an incredible sexual feeling inside of her, but with each thrust Hermione was a little scared.

Cormac eventually needed to throw a little spice into the mix. He pulled out with a sound like a suction to Hermione's momentary relief. She semi-crumpled on the towel to offer her body a break from tensing at each of Cormac's invading thrusts, but she wasn't able to lie limp for very long. Cormac appeared to be wrestling with Hermione's feet. She had heard rumors about this, but didn't really know what to do.

Her first assumption had been wrong. Cormac was not trying to gain control of her feet, but her ankles. Cormac positioned them so that both of them were trapped – one in each of his hands. He lifted them up in the air so that they were almost level with his face. With Hermione's feet elevated, her delicate hole was exposed to him. Cormac transitioned both her ankles into one grip. With his freed hand, Cormac positioned himself at the same entrance that he was just in. With Hermione's feet lifted up, Cormac resumed what he had been doing. He worked deeper and deeper at this new angle. Hermione was biting her lip while each of his thrusts threatened to reach her body's limits.

Cormac was loving every second of what he was doing. What teenager was going to turn down sex, but looking down on Hermione he couldn't be more pleased. She was gorgeous in just the right ways. She had a sexy innocence about her that drove him wild. Yes, he was enjoying this brief spell of 'rough' sex, but at the weakest request he would do anything that Hermione wanted. Cormac loved when he could lift a girl's legs like he was doing with Hermione. It felt like she got tighter in just the place he wanted it, and he thought that it somehow contorted the girl's body so that he had a better chance of driving deeper into her. Every time that he dove into the hilt, he felt Hermione's quad muscles tighten as she tried to prepare for Cormac's invasion. He smiled as he felt them flex as his head hit a new depth.

Hermione was starting to worry that her body would start to reject Cormac's advances if he continued testing out the limits of her body. Just as that fear was seriously threatening to become a reality, Cormac released Hermione's ankles. They fell at her side, which she was glad of. She felt blood rush to them. Apparently, Cormac was holding her a little tighter than she had realized, because she was starting to have the feeling of pins entering her toes.

Cormac resumed the position of sitting up high on his knees. He entered Hermione again and this time, he didn't start working in the slow pace of a bass drum, but went to a new tempo that rivaled a faster snare drum. Cormac was lifting off of his knees and was pushing into Hermione. Again, she bit her lips as Cormac impaled her. This was slightly more enjoyable, even though the slight worry that Cormac wouldn't stop, or may possibly be capable of hurting her, was an underlying turn on.

Hermione felt a surge of surprise rush over her, when Cormac's left thumb came in contact with her most sensitive nub. He did his best to move his digit in a flurry as he continued thrusting into Hermione. His motions were clumsy, but the desired result was almost reached. The dual stimulation was heavenly. Hermione had one hand gripping the towel underneath her, while her other had her fingers tangled in her own hair.

"Oh, fuck," Cormac groaned.

"Mm," Hermione hummed out as she reached ecstasy.

Hermione worried that Cormac had finished in her. She was not prepared for anything like that. When she looked down between her legs, she saw that Cormac's now limp member was hanging between his legs, with a pesky drip of his semen still on the tip. Hermione sat up appalled. When she sat up it was apparent that Cormac had pulled out in time. There was a pool of creamy white on Hermione's towel.

Hermione looked at it in mild disgust. She didn't know why. She had done much, much worse with the liquid before, but seeing it on her towel gave her a feeling of disgust.

"I can clean that," Cormac said, half exhausted. Hair stuck to his forehead from a thin layer of sweat.

"That's ok," Hermione said. She knew she had a face that told Cormac how she felt about the mess, "I have others."

**A/N: A big thanks goes out to my girlfriend for helping me edit this chapter! Let me know what you guys think if you have a spare thirty seconds! :)**

**jrb2009**


	43. Chapter 43

**A/N: Here is the next installment! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 43**

The morning of the Camp Cup Hermione Granger felt like a million bucks. She was planning on going on a vacation with two friends to a mysterious destination that she had never been to - Naomi found airfare that was only 30 pounds for a round trip, and she also found a hostel that was 12 pounds a night for all of them. This trip really was going to be done on the cheap. Hermione didn't know what the living conditions of the hostel or the sturdiness of the plane were, but unless she contracted a skin disease, or the plane crashed, she wasn't going to complain. Hermione was convinced that a vacation with Naomi and Wayne was going to be fun.

And it just wasn't the trip that had Hermione in great spirits. The soapbox derby was a big success. The campers had a lot of fun decorating and customizing their little cars. There was so much buzz about the event that even Mr. and Mrs. Craig stopped by the Academic Building on the day of the race and after the session the camp owners complemented Hermione on a job well done. Aside from the fact that she was always a little bit of a teacher's pet, Hermione was happy to receive the recognition. It made her feel validated at camp.

And on top of all that good news, there was Cormac McLaggen. He was handsome. He was charming. He was sweet. He was everything a girl wanted in a 'first love'. He was, simply put, Cormac McLaggen.

"Good morning," he said to her as he rolled over shielding the sun from his eyes. He kissed her cheek.

"Morning," she responded. She didn't know what it would be like waking up without him in the same bed as her when she was away on holiday for a week.

Hermione rolled over and she turned the alarm off. She was able to shut the alarm off even before the clock reached the time that would sound the annoying buzzer. Hermione and Cormac had been getting great nights of sleep recently. Since Wednesday Cormac had imposed a self-ban on sex. Hermione didn't know why, but she was somewhat glad. Her body needed a few days' rest. Well in this particular case, her body only needed about thirty-six hours' rest.

Thursday night, Hermione had an urge rush over her. Cormac was just coming out of Hermione's bathroom. He had just brushed his teeth - things with the teens were getting pretty serious since Cormac was now leaving his toothbrush in Hermione's cabin - and he was coming to bed topless. He was stretching his muscles as he was walking back to the bed and Hermione could see the tight ropes of Cormac's muscles catch and pitch with the shadows of the cabin lights. It was a particularly hot night on Thursday, and Hermione was choosing to sleep in her bra and panties. She started by admiring Cormac from her side when he was walking toward her, but as he looked more like a Greek statue as he approached the bed, Hermione jumped up to rest on her knees on the mattress. She held her arms out in Cormac's direction. He thought that she was reaching to him to hug her in an embrace, which he was oddly in the mood for.

When he laced his arms around Hermione, she suicide bombed him - meaning she latched her arms around him and fell on to her back, pulling him on top of her. Hermione tried to start kissing Cormac's neck, but he started chuckling.

"What are you doing?" Cormac asked her.

"Kissing you," Hermione said excited by the topless teen on top of her.

"Why?" Cormac questioned. In that moment, that was the wrong thing to say.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Hermione looked at him like he was disgusting to her.

"No sex for a few days," Cormac reminded her.

"But why?" Hermione was embarrassed that she almost sounded like she was whining, "Don't I look cute?" She pushed Cormac off of her and did her best to look as appealing as possible.

Cormac looked at her, and he hesitated. He almost lost his resolve, "Yes, you look cute, but I need to stay angry."

"What did I do?" Hermione's voice was approaching outrage.

"No not you," Cormac explained, "I need to keep all my testosterone I can for the Camp Cup."

Hermione looked at him through narrowed eyes. She almost asked him 'You'd rather win a stupid trophy than have sex with me?' But she didn't know what the answer to that question would be.

"We can go back to normal right after – Saturday night," Cormac told her.

"Right after the Camp Cup, I'm going to Croatia," Hermione reminded him, "for a week."

Cormac hadn't worked those details into his 'no-sex plan'. He sat with his lips twisted in thought. Then he seemed to have an idea strike him, "I know."

Hermione looked at him hoping that he would lift the ban.

"You can blow me," Hermione pulled a fist back and punched Cormac in the chest. She pulled her hand back in pain. She shook it up and down. She had jammed her wrist against his hard body.

"Fuck you, Cormac," Hermione said not laughing. This was bad for Cormac, because he couldn't keep from laughing.

"I'm kidding," he told her, "Let me see your hand."

"Fuck you," she repeated.

"Saturday," He always had to get in the last word, "Now, let me see your hand," Cormac took her delicate wrist and examined it before they went to bed that night.

Hermione and Cormac exited out of Hermione's cabin in their best Camp Cup apparel. Cormac looked the same as always for the event. He had on his purple Camp Craig shirt, white shorts, hideous tall purple socks and his trainers. Hermione looked similar, but had her hair up in yellow and purple ribbons. One thing that she had that was different was a fabric wrap on her wrist. She had mildly sprained her wrist when she punched Cormac and had been wrapping her wrist since that night.

The pair walked down the path feeling alive and refreshed. Cormac had a certain pep in his step. It was different than the normal confidence that he emitted. The way that he was walking made it seem like he was almost floating. At the end of the path, the pair of them split up to retrieve their campers, and then began the walk together to the cafeteria.

Dayton Ward and his friends started referring to the morning ritual as 'family breakfast'.

He had explained it as, "Cormac's dad. Hermione's mom. And we're all the kids."

"IF I ever had one-eighth of this many kids," Cormac said waving his hands around to the dozen or so campers, "I would tie my tubes forever."

"Speak for yourself," Hermione said moving both her hands involuntarily toward her legs, "It would be like a revolving door."

In the cafeteria, there was a lot of noise, everyone was super excited for the Camp Cup. Both people that were camp veterans and camp virgins were looking forward to a 'friendly competition' with Camp Adventure. Of course, none of the campers were aware of the bet between the two camp directors, but there was definitely a much more palpable buzz among the counselors.

Mr. Craig was going from table to table checking in on some of his self-appointed 'horses'. These 'horses' were the campers that we're going to be very promising for the outcome of the Camp Cup. It was not a secret that Mr. Craig was impressed with the caliber of his camp attendees. There were a couple of young athletes that were very promising, along with some very intelligent youngsters that could prove useful for a Camp Craig victory. Hermione had noticed that over the past few weeks, Camp Adventure's strength had been in the camper activities, while the events that incorporated the counselors seemed to favor Camp Craig. Mr. Craig had noticed the same trend and was feeling confident that an improved showing from the campers and a steady effort from his counselors would see his vacation to Budapest paid for in no time.

When it was time, Mr. Craig sounded the bullhorn and announced that it was time to head to the buses for the first Camp Cup of the summer at Camp Adventure. The whole camp marched toward the Gatehouse where there were three big yellow buses waiting.

This was going to be the first time that Hermione was going to set foot on Camp Adventure soil. She was most of all curious to see how the other camp looked and operated. The drive didn't take long, but immediately, she felt like she was in a foreign land. Summer camp was meant to feel quaint and homey. Camp Craig was crafted with John Craig's own blood, sweat, and tears. He built all of the buildings with hard work, dedication, and passion. Camp Adventure seemed more like an upscale trendy compound of modern art.

It was obvious that this part of the lake was constructed with a lot of money. Everything was made of steel and glass. Anything that was made of wood was only an accent and was the color white, like brand new sneakers. The kind of white that desperately needed to get dirty. But that wasn't everything that made Camp Adventure so different. As Hermione and the rest of the camp disembarked from the buses, she couldn't help but get the sense that everything about this place was planned and executed perfectly - that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Hermione enjoyed a well thought out plan, but that was some of the charm of Camp Craig. Mr. Craig came into some money, so he built a new cabin, or he saw the need to build an Arts &amp; Crafts building so he put one up. It appeared that Camp Adventure had once been a beautiful and perfect blueprint that was transposed on the landscape.

The last thing that Hermione felt about Camp Adventure was that while Camp Craig seemed to embrace the nature around it- Mr. Craig built the buildings with the trees found locally, or there were wild flowers and even weeds that grew all around the untrodden paths, Camp Adventure seemed so bent on separating the camp from the natural beauty around it.

The Camp Craig group followed a path that led to Camp Adventure's auditorium. It was nothing like Camp Craig's. For one thing, the auditorium was indoors and air conditioned. The Camp Adventure director greeted everyone and welcomed the Camp Craig crew. After a few words about general housekeeping and rules, he dismissed everyone to the first activities of the day. As Hermione exited out of the building, she looked back down on the stage and saw the two camp directors shaking hands. Hermione turned around, took a deep breath wanting to do a good job for her camp, and stepped out of the air condition and into the summer heat.

At lunch, Hermione arrived back at the cafeteria and was a little disappointed to report that Camp Craig had swept the Jeopardy, but Camp Adventure won both events of Trivial Pursuit. Hermione and her campers were smarter, but they just couldn't get lucky enough to win in the second game. In the cafeteria of Camp Craig, the score was tallied on a large dry-erase board on wheels. As people came in and reported the scores the board was updated with a marker. At Camp Adventure, there was a scoreboard that was taller than Hermione up on the wall. Hermione was appalled when she saw the score. She had been certain that Camp Craig was going to cruise to certain victory, but the score was much closer than she thought. Camp Craig was winning, but not by a lot. She looked around the room and it looked like a few other events hadn't returned yet. She scanned the room one more time and Cormac, Gary, Wayne and some of the other boys weren't back yet. Hermione tried to do some quick calculations in her head, and if the boys came back with volleyball, basketball, and half the football wins, the score would look closer to what she was expecting.

"Hey, Hermione," Hermione looked down and it was Macy.

"Yeah?"

"Can you take me to the bathroom?" She seemed embarrassed to ask the counselor such a question.

Hermione wanted to tell Macy that she was thirteen years old and didn't need Hermione to go with her to the bathroom. But then Hermione remembered that those were the rules, so Hermione respected that. And on top of that, Hermione realized that she needed to go as well, so she agreed to accompany Macy.

The two Lady Otters returned and the cafeteria was full. It was loud chaos. Hermione shepherded Macy toward the food line, and they both picked up trays and started piling food on their plates. The food at Camp Craig was always tasty, but this looked delectable. The smells alone were intoxicating. Hermione was getting the sense that Camp Adventure was more of a spa for kids rather than a summer camp. Hermione was searching for somewhere to sit, and found a table of bodies that she recognized on the other end of the cafeteria. She started her walk. Macy decided to sit at a table right next to where they started walking. She wanted to sit with Dayton, which was cute.

Hermione's head was moving side to side as she walked. She was trying to take in everything around her. The camp still felt so foreign to her. Hermione's head scanned the differences in the building, the difference in the food that the campers were eating, and the differences in the faces.

As Hermione walked through the cafeteria with her tray in her hands, she noticed a lot of older Camp Adventure counselors that she had not ever seen before. There were three boys that she saw sitting with Brenden and Ryan. They were all talking about some of the sports they were playing that morning. One boy was very tall and slim. He seemed to be very fast - even from sitting Hermione got the sense that everything he did was quick. Another, next to the tall boy, was shorter and stockier. And the last boy almost looked exactly like Cormac. Hermione had to do a double-take to make sure that Cormac and Ryan weren't sharing a laugh.

Hermione caught Ryan Craig's eyes. He moved his lips and then directed his head and eyes in Hermione's direction. The four other boys smiled, laughed and turned their heads in the same direction. Their displays of attention to Hermione were horribly degrading. Two of them winked in her direction, one raised his eyebrows quickly at her, and another appeared to be blowing kisses at her. Hermione's face turned red.

The most despicable thing was that Brenden seemed to notice Hermione's sprained wrist. He turned his head back to his friends and said something before making a quick jerking motion with his wrist.

She turned her attention forward and continued walking while the boys seemed to howl with laughter.

What had them in such good spirits? Hermione questioned. They must've lost to the Camp Craigers in the other events. Hermione peered up at the direction of the scoreboard and to add insult to injury, Camp Craig was losing. All the scores had been accounted for except for the main event.

Hermione looked down and found that her feet had carried her all the way across the cafeteria. She had seen Cormac hunched over from the other side of the room, but now she was unsure if she was supposed to be at this table. The group seemed to be having a very serious meeting. The people that were present at the table were all the counselors that were major contributors to the Camp Craig football team. Even Mr. Craig was at the table. Hermione approached gingerly.

"We need to win the football match to tie everything," Gary was saying looking up at the scoreboard and doing the math.

Hermione felt out of place when everyone turned to face the same direction Gary was facing and everyone's eyes landed on her. Cormac looked up at the scoreboard as well and saw that Hermione was standing behind him. He moved to the side to allow her some space to sit.

"Here," Cormac said after he had slid to the side for her. He scooted a little more to the side so that there was enough room for her to sit.

"Are you sure?" She asked tenderly.

She was immediately shushed. She sat down without a peep. Cormac wrapped an arm around Hermione's back for a second and gave her a brief rub on her upper back. It felt good for him to touch her. After the encounter with the Camp Adventure boys, it was exactly what she needed. Cormac didn't turn to face her, but continued listening to the discussion at the table.

From what Hermione gathered, Camp Craig was going to try to change their normal tactics for a different approach that should guarantee a favorable outcome.

"Where did those other counselors come from?" Wayne asked. Hermione thought she knew the counselors that he was referring to.

"They're some of Ryan's friends from town. They've been running around together since primary and secondary school. They're really good athletes," Bri told everyone. Hermione always felt a little skeptical of Bri, for more than one reason, but in this context, for the Camp Cup. However, even though Hermione had her reasons of distrusting Bri around Cormac, Bri had never done anything, but play her hardest for the Camp Cup, so Hermione appreciated that.

"Well how come they are only working this week?" Gary asked.

"Some of their other counselors had to go away for Uni orientation and there were a few openings for a few temporary slots, and dad asked Ryan to ask them."

"It's fine, it doesn't matter," Cormac said with a lot of confidence in his voice, "We'll be ok."

"I don't know if we will be ok," Hermione was amazed to see that it was Wayne speaking. Wayne was always so optimistic.

She wasn't the only one that was in disbelief of hearing those words come out of Wayne's mouth.

"Did you see those guys?" Wayne then went on to describe the events from basketball and volleyball. Hermione was sure that the combination of Cormac and Wayne hadn't lost a basketball match or a volleyball set, but it sounded like the Camp Adventure team only sent out five counselors to compete with Cormac, Wayne and three campers.

"That hardly seems fair," Hermione pointed out.

"There's no rule against it," Mr. Craig pointed out. He sounded slightly defeated.

"But that's not right for the campers," Gary commented.

"Yeah, but I guess my brother wants to win at any cost," Mr. Craig told him, "But back to the tactics. Cormac, if you sit deep right in front of the defense, do you think you can slow down the Camp Adventure attack?"

Cormac had been silent for most of the conversation. Hermione felt like he was more than happy with the chance to create a storybook ending. He smiled at Mr. Craig's words, "If I can't, who can?"

"That's a good lad. And Dayton can give these boys from Camp Adventure a run for their money?" Mr. Craig asked.

"Yeah, I'll talk to him before the game," Cormac reassured the director.

"We need to remain compact, and defend with a block of five and another block of four. When we get under pressure…"

Hermione toned out the rest of the conversation. She appreciated the half-full idea of the Camp Craig team winning the football match, but that would only be a piece of the puzzle for victory. The two sides would be tied. Hermione didn't know what happened if there was a tie, but she was certain that she would find out if the team could prove they were the better side on the pitch.

After lunch, everyone proceeded out of the cafeteria and made their way down to the football arena. It was in the lower grounds of Camp Adventure. It was close to the lake. The scene was quite breathtaking. There was one side of the field that was completely made up of grandstands. There was plenty of room for everyone to have a comfy seat, as opposed to Camp Craig where only a fifth of those in attendance were able to be on an elevated platform. By the time everyone was present in the bleachers, the teams were finishing up their warmup routines. From the look of it, Camp Craig had a strong team. There were three campers and eight counselors on the pitch. Camp Adventure's outfit had eleven counselors.

Like always there were no referees, but it was deemed time to start. Camp Adventure was -going to start with the kick-off. Hermione was starting to learn a little bit more about the sport as she started paying more attention to these matches. She wasn't certain, but Cormac seemed to be starting much farther away from the Camp Adventure goal than she had normally seen him.

The game started and it did not look like the outcome was going to be headed in Camp Craig's direction. At Bri's comment about how the unknown counselors had been school age friends of Ryan didn't really sound that intimidating to Hermione, but as the boys played it was apparent that they had a level of understanding with one another on the field. At the moment it seemed like a major advantage for Camp Adventure, as they effortlessly moved the ball down the field with quick passes. Hermione watched as a trio of Camp Adventure counselor's bore down at the heart of the Camp Craig defense. The three attackers sliced through the first block of four midfielders like a hot knife through butter. Soon the counselor that looked eerily similar to Cormac was hurtling at the set of five defenders at full speed. Cormac was going to be the first-last line of defense. Wise to the team's scouting report, Cormac's doppelgänger, splashed the ball out wide to the left. Cormac had a decision to make. Leave the center of defense and head to the ball, or allow the ball to travel hoping that someone else on the team would recover the ball for the purple Craigers.

Cormac shot off like a bullet and attempted to shut down the space for the counselor from Camp Adventure that was receiving the pass. In a quick set of movements, the ball went back to the direction that it came from. It rested in the exact space that Cormac was going to be standing in, but instead of Cormac intercepting the pass, Ryan Craig received the ball and fired a shot to the low corner just out of Wayne's reach. Wayne rolled on his side and sat on his knees for a moment. He swore before he got to his feet to pull the ball out of the back of the net.

The match wasn't even two minutes in and the scoreboard flicked to read 1-0. In the stands, the Camp Adventure-ites were cheering loudly and chanting Ryan's name. He ran to a corner of the pitch where he celebrated with his teammates.

"This looks bad," Hermione leaned over to Naomi. Naomi had her head in her hands. She didn't really care for sports, but she wanted to see the Camp Craig team do well.

Hermione watched as the game developed into a more even match. Camp Craig seemed to come into their own and Camp Adventure altered their tactics to a more defensive approach after capitalizing on their first shot. They had a one goal lead, so it appeared like they were intent on sitting back and inviting Camp Craig to attempt to break them down and chase a tying goal.

Camp Craig was disappointed to see that as clever as the three strikers from Camp Adventure were, Brenden and the tall quick-looking counselor were just as skilled as defenders. They were the pair that made the last group before the goalkeeper. Everyone had to admit that Dayton was doing a good job giving them all that they could handle, but Brenden was too big and strong, and the other tall counselor was just a little faster than the young teenager.

The brightest star of the Camp Craig side was once again Cormac. Despite owning most of the fault for the conversion of the first goal, Cormac was hustling all over the field. He was really giving every ounce of effort that he could muster to the cause. He was always the first to run up and break up a play.

The pressure was really mounting around the Camp Adventure goal as the half was coming to an end. Cormac had just worked to snatch the ball up for the Camp Craig side and was barreling down the center of the field. With relative ease, Cormac knocked the ball around two assailants and burst forward with all the speed that his legs could produce. Cormac was running diagonally from the middle and appeared to be a man on a solo mission.

Dayton was doing his best to find some free space to run into, but as he drifted in a parallel direction as Cormac the two central defenders were able to easily remove a pass to Dayton. This was all part of Cormac and Dayton's plan. As the two men that thought they were simultaneously defending Cormac and removing Dayton from the play, the young Hare broke in the opposite direction. The moment that Cormac saw that Dayton was moving toward the goal with no one in his way, Cormac lifted his right foot and swung through the ball. Dayton was the first to it and was on his way to a break away.

Everyone in the stands got to their feet. Dayton was an entire body length ahead of the unnamed counselor playing next to Brenden. Dayton was looking like he was going to be able to fend off the last defender to open himself for a shot, but looks proved to be deceiving.

Hermione didn't have a full appreciation of the sport, but she was a fan of Cormac and even of Dayton, but she was overcome with the urge to shout and exclaim when she saw what happened. The counselor that was chasing Dayton had closed the distance and when he moved for his last ditch effort to stop the camper, he left his feet and dove at Dayton's. Hermione had known that a sliding tackle was legal, and a player could swipe the ball from the ground, but even from where Hermione was standing, it appeared like the counselor struck Dayton deliberately in the ankles. With the counselor's first foot, he appeared to strike it right into Dayton's ankle bone, and the counselor's other leg swept forward and scissored behind Dayton's Achilles' tendon.

Dayton yelped so loudly that everyone in attendance could hear it. The boy curled into a ball as he crumpled to the floor. He brought both his hands to his injured leg. The counselor stood up with a smile on his face. He appeared to be enjoying seeing Dayton rolled up in a ball in pain.

A flurry of pushing a shoving proceeded immediately after the counselor was up on his feet. Several Camp Craig counselors were at Dayton's side. The boy was motionless, for the most part, reaching down at his injury. Cormac was the first to reach the smiling counselor.

Down on the field Cormac was shouting, "What the fuck!" He put both his hands on the chest of the counselor and shoved him.

This childhood friend of Ryan Craig seemed to be amused by getting a rise out of Cormac. He smiled even harder, "What? Welcome to playing with the big kids," he bent over at his waist and said over Dayton's body.

The camper may or may not have been crying.

"Fuck you. He's just a kid," Cormac shoved the boy again.

"Don't be mad at me that your kid is a little wanker," the guilty teenagers said standing toe to toe with Cormac.

Cormac was worried he was going to punch this counselor. As a matter of fact, he was ready to pull his hand back to punch him, but he was grabbed from behind. "Go check on Dayton." Gary had stepped up to the other counselor and was not backing down from him.

Cormac looked over his shoulder to see Gary, Junior and the friend of Ryan Craig talking.

"Move," he said as he approached Dayton. Almost everyone on the Camp Craig team was around the boy. The other bodies dispersed at Cormac's words. Cormac took a knee next to his favorite camper.

Dayton was sniffling as he held his ankle. When Cormac got close enough to him, it was clear that he had the remnants of streaks of tears on his face.

Cormac was Dayton's age not too long ago, so he knew that he should not draw any attention to Dayton's crying, even though he had appeared to stop.

"Hey, mate," Cormac said softly.

Dayton heard Cormac's voice for the first time, and turned away. He didn't want Cormac to know that he was crying - even though it was too late. The boy remained silent.

"How's it feel?" Cormac said when Dayton didn't respond.

"It hurts," Dayton choked out.

"Let me see," Cormac shifted his gaze to Dayton's ankle, "Can you move it?" Cormac looked over his shoulder and hundreds of people in the stands were still standing looking on. He glanced both sets of camp directors were on their way to the field. Cormac wanted to deal with this as quickly as possible. Nothing would be more embarrassing to the camper than more people "fussing" over him.

From his position on his side, Dayton flexed his foot a few times so that Cormac could see it.

"How's that feel?" Cormac asked him.

"It hurts," Dayton repeated.

"Is it broken? Or just hurts?"

Dayton rolled onto his bottom so that he could sit down. His eyes were a little puffy and his nose was a little runny, "It just hurts."

Cormac turned back over his shoulder and waved both Mr. Craigs back toward the stands. Cormac held up a thumbs up symbol. The directors looked surprised, but turned around and went back to the stands. Cormac turned back to his favorite Hare, "Can you stand up?" He offered Dayton a hand.

With Cormac's help and a wince, Dayton rose to his feet. Cormac thought about picking the boy up and carrying him, because it would've been faster, but that would've been humiliating. Cormac didn't even offer the boy a shoulder to help him. He knew that it would be better for Dayton's ego if he carried himself under his own weight off the pitch.

"Let's get you some ice, mate," Cormac said once they were halfway off the field. The Camp Adventure nurse was waiting for Dayton to hobble toward her. Once Dayton was off the field, everyone in the stands clapped and applauded for the injured player, "Get that taken care of," Cormac called after the boy as he trotted back to finish the first half.

Everyone had deemed that it was only fair for the Camp Adventure player to be suspended from playing until Dayton could return - if he returned. So there were only ten players on each team. The two Head Counselors had determined that there would be a free kick awarded to the Camp Craig team with one minute left on the clock for the first half. Everyone in the stands that was supporting the purple and yellow team was most pleased with this because the spot for the free kick was perfectly favorable for the Camp Craig team.

Gary was waiting for Cormac to return for the spot kick. He reached out with the ball and Cormac took it in his hands. He found a blade of grass that was just to his liking. Cormac stood up and looked over his shoulder at the clock that was counting down. He had forty seconds until the half ended. He took his prescribed steps back and surveyed what was in front of him. There were six Camp Adventure players that stood ten yards away from him and were building a protective layer of bodies between the ball and the goal. To Cormac's right stood Bri Craig. She was naturally left footed, a decent shooter of the ball and standing only as a decoy. No one in the area was fooled. The look of pure determination on Cormac's face told everyone that he was the one that felt responsible for retribution. Retribution for being at fault for the first goal. And retribution for avenging his fallen comrade.

Cormac exhaled every bit of breath from his lungs and peeked at the clock. There were fifteen seconds left. Another long breath and Cormac stepped up to the ball and struck it.

Hermione had seen Cormac practice his free kicks before and she was expecting the ball to swivel and swerve up and over the wall, but instead Cormac tried to take the ball in the opposite direction. While Cormac usually aimed for the near side of the goal, Cormac attempted to lift the ball across the face of the goal and into the far corner.

Three things happened simultaneously. The goalie caught the ball with relative ease - his hands were pretty close to his chest when he caught the ball, the buzzer that signaled the end of the half sounded, and Cormac sighed, "Sonofabitch." His shot wasn't disappointing to just himself, but everyone that was supporting Camp Craig.

Hermione could see the frustration in every one of the Camp Craigers eyes as they approached the sidelines for a halftime talk. Faces were long. They had temporarily lost their best attacking option in Dayton, Cormac had missed the last minute free kick, and they were losing 1-0. Hermione peered at the side where the Camp Adventure team was. The five childhood friends had isolated themselves from the rest of their team and were laughing and joking. Hermione wasn't down on the field, but she could tell from their body language and their motions that the boys were making fun of Dayton for crying. That enraged Hermione. She turned her attention to the Camp Craig team. Everyone was sitting down and chatting around Dayton. Hermione took another second to look. It wasn't everyone. Cormac was off to the side of the rest of the team. He had taken his shirt off and was lying flat on his back. He had his hands over his head and wasn't moving. She couldn't tell if he was lying there in frustration or exhaustion. It was both.

There was a little murmur from the stands when Dayton stood up and did his best to attempt a light jog on his hurt ankle. It appeared that he could still move pretty well as long as he didn't turn too hard on his recently injured foot. The person responsible for commentating, sounded the buzzer that alerted the players that they were to take the field. The teams switched sides for the second half. Gary was barking some changes to his team as he took his position, but all Camp Craig eyes were on Dayton as he approached his starting position. Cormac was just pulling his shirt up and over his head. His shirt was soaked in sweat.

The second half started, and it took a while for the players to find their swing from the first half. After five minutes, it was apparent that Camp Craig's second half adjustments were proving more difficult for Camp Adventure. Gary's adjustments had mostly asked for his teammates to give a little more effort. This was apparently working, but everyone in the stands wondered how long it could last. Hermione looked at Cormac and didn't think that he could sustain such a high work rate. He was always the first person to step up and defend an assailant, and he was always the first to spark the attack. While the ball was on the field and the game was going on, no one could tell that Cormac was reaching exhaustion. Only Hermione, who only had eyes for following the teenager's motions, could tell, that every time the ball went out of bounds or was stopped, just how much energy he was using. Cormac would bend over and hold his knees, grimace and look at the clock.

With nine minutes left, as everyone in the stands was starting to get overly anxious, Camp Craig found a breakthrough. Again, the attack started from Cormac. Rather than dribbling out from defense, Cormac moved the ball out of his possession to Dayton's. Dayton received the ball and was able to turn Brenden and make his way toward goal. Brenden did his best to slow Dayton down by tugging on his shirt, but Dayton was able to slip out of his grip and speed away. Again, the counselor that had scissored Dayton to the ground was in pursuit of the teenager.

Hermione was the only one that had seen it, but as Cormac had slung the ball out toward Dayton, Cormac sprinted from thirty yards behind Dayton to become available for a return pass. The defending counselor had caught up to Dayton, but Dayton was too clever for him this time. Before the defender had the chance to make a challenge on the ball, Dayton whipped the ball into the clear for Cormac to run onto. This was a clear chance for Camp Craig. It was only Cormac and the goalie. Easily, Cormac netted the first goal for the purple and yellow.

Everyone supporting Camp Craig jumped up and down with excitement. Cormac didn't have any energy in him to celebrate. Instead, he ran to retrieve the ball out of the back of the net. He picked it up with his hands and jogged back to the center circle. He placed the object in his hands down on the spot where the game would be restarted and made a motion with his hands that said, "Let's go. Come get some."

Dayton was feeling tough, and as he walked passed the defender that had brought him down to the ground at the end of the first half, he told him, "Fuck you."

The defender eyed Dayton as he retreated to his half of the field. The counselor turned his head side to side as if he was trying to remind himself to remain calm and keep his head, but he felt an ugly side of competition rising in him.

The remaining five minutes were a back and forth affair. Camp Craig felt the need to continue surging forward, and to be honest it appeared as if there was a little more momentum from the Camp Craig side, but the Camp Adventure team, through Ryan Craig, were doing their best to rally. It was apparent that sitting back and inviting the Camp Craig attack wasn't enough of an option with Cormac and Dayton doing their best to cut through the Camp Adventure defense.

Cormac never ceased working. As long as the ball was in the field of play, he was sprinting around like a mad man. He couldn't stop working hard. It was absolutely admirable to watch. Hermione looked down on him with a sense of great pride while he worked to represent Camp Craig, but only Cormac knew that the reason he was working so hard was for himself.

It had been a very long time since he was up against a challenge like this. Cormac was always a gifted athlete, and an incredible footballer. Yes, on any given day Camp Adventure could best the Camp Craig team at the Camp Cup, but it was seldom that he would be bested by another counselor. On the rare occasion, Ryan Craig would outplay Cormac, which was the nature of the sport, but now Cormac saw it as having five worthy opponents. In Cormac's mind, if he could salvage a Camp Cup win for Camp Craig, he would without a doubt be the best competitor on the field. Personal glory, as vain as it was, fueled Cormac to push himself.

Cormac was in a defensive foot race with one of Ryan Craig's friends from town. Cormac had broken into a dead sprint and his feet were carrying him after the man headed toward his goal. Before the Camp Adventure attacker got within a threatening position to score, Cormac slid along the ground and dispossessed the player. The ball harmlessly trickled backward toward Wayne who left the goal mouth and picked the ball up - completely within the rules of the game.

Without a second's hesitation, Cormac turned on his heels and sprinted back up the field in the opposite direction. Wayne was not a talented kicker, but he approached the edge of his penalty box and threw the ball with all his might. His toss almost reached the halfway point on the field. It didn't seem possible, but Cormac was the closest member of Camp Craig to the ball. He lifted up off the ground to contest the ball in an aerial battle.

There were three minutes left in the game. A tie would seal the Camp Cup victory for Camp Adventure, while Camp Craig needed to push for a second goal or they would lose to Camp Adventure on Camp Adventure soil.

Cormac was jumping for the same ball as the unnamed defender from Camp Adventure. Cormac was able to get a hair higher than his opponent. Flexing the muscles in his neck, Cormac directed the ball out of the air and toward Dayton. The ball was not played perfectly to the boy's feet, but lingered in a spot halfway between Dayton and Brenden. Whoever was the quickest to react would get there first. Brenden was able to react first; however, his first burst of explosive speed resulted in a slip on the grass. Dayton was able to get his foot to the ball first. He pushed it in front of himself and toward goal. Brenden was recovering from his misstep, but there was no way that he was going to catch the camper. Dayton was a tad too quick for Brenden.

The only chance that Camp Adventure had was the pacy defender that Cormac had just collided with. Cormac was huffing and puffing. He knew that it was his responsibility to rush forward and assist Dayton in the attack, but he was having a hard time willing his legs forward. From the same spot on the ground that he had landed after his aerial battle with the other counselor, Cormac bent over at his waist and looked down the field at the spectacle everyone was watching. Cormac's body had almost reached its limit.

Hermione stood with the rest of the fans as Dayton pressed forward. He was forty yards from goal. Thirty-five. Thirty. The defender was closing the space faster and faster. Murmurs from the crowd were urging the camper toward goal, while other shouts begged the man chasing Dayton to catch him. Dayton took a peek over his shoulder to see how far away his defender was. He saw that he was within an arm's length from catching him. Dayton contemplated shooting the ball, but it was clear that he was too far. Instead, he tried a piece of trickery. If the defender caught up to him, there would be no way for Dayton to get around him alone. Dayton shifted one way, which brought the defender with him. Twenty-five. As Dayton sensed that his assailant had taken the bait, Dayton altered his direction. Under normal circumstances, Dayton was sure that he would've created enough space for him to move toward goal uncontested. The next thing that happened was not a 'normal circumstance'.

Knowing that he had been beaten by the camper, the counselor reached up with his hands and took Dayton by both shoulders. Unceremoniously, he thrust Dayton to the ground from behind. The camper yelped in surprise and fell to the floor. He fell flat on his back and the back of his skull bounced off of the turf.

Cormac watched the whole thing in horror and disgust. Somehow he found the energy in his fatigued legs to burst one last time. Shouts were coming from all around the 'stadium'. People in the stands were yelling and holding up obscene gestures with their fingers. Both Mr. Craigs were storming onto the field this time. The Camp Craig players were screaming at the Camp Adventure players, who couldn't seem to say anything in defense of the blatant misconduct. And Cormac was sprinting up the field with his fists balled up.

Cormac didn't care how many people were watching, in fact he wanted everyone to watch. He was going through everything he was going to do to this barbarian. A couple of punches didn't seem like enough. Just as Cormac was about to pull his first punch back, he found himself flat on his back. He had been barreled over from the side. Even more infuriated, Cormac did his best to scramble to his feet to see who else he was going to need to deliver punishment to, but it had been Gary. Gary hadn't knocked Cormac over to keep Cormac from hitting the Camp Adventure counselor. Gary had knocked Cormac out of the way so that Gary could get to other counselor first.

Hermione had never seen Gary lose control before, but it was an intimidating and slightly terrifying sight. Gary wasn't striking out at the counselor, like she and everyone had assumed that Cormac would've. Instead, Gary put his hands on the front of the guilty party's shirt, drove him upward, off his feet, and brought him back to the ground onto his back. Gary fell on top of him.

"How do you like it?" Gary growled at the counselor.

A look of pure terror was wiped across the counselor's face. He had had an ignorant smirk on it, but there was no longer a trace of that.

Gary didn't have any longer to strike fear into the eyes of this boy, because the Camp Adventure Mr. Craig arrived.

"James," he said in a calm, but harsh tone, "Get the fuck off this field."

"Piss off," James had said softly. He did his best to try to swipe Gary's hands off his shirt in defiance, but Gary's grip was too tight. If Hermione had seen Gary's eyes, it would've reminded her of the look of Lupin's werewolf side.

"Let him go, Gary," his camp director instructed him.

Gary brought his lips down to James's ear, "You better hope that I don't find you after this match."

Cormac had never been happier to see this side of Gary. For the first time since the incident, Cormac brought his attention to Dayton's limp body. Again, the young teenager was curled in a ball and was holding the back of his head. He may have been crying again.

"Hey, mate," Cormac was the fifth person around the boy. Other people were trying to get a look at him.

Dayton just remained still on the ground.

"Everyone, give him some space," Cormac said waving the rest of the group away.

Knowing that Cormac was Dayton's favorite, the others stepped away.

"Come on, sit up," Cormac said coaxing the camper to a seated position.

Dayton held his knees and did his best to not look Cormac in the eyes. Dayton didn't want Cormac to see that there had been tears in his eyes a second time.

"Look at me," Cormac said trying to see if Dayton had a glossy look in his eyes.

Dayton did his best to resist, but Cormac almost forced him to look at him. Cormac wasn't a doctor, but he had been around the sport of Quidditch long enough to know when someone wasn't fit to continue. Dayton didn't have that look about him.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine," Dayton said looking away when he knew that he didn't need to look at Cormac anymore.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two."

"Alright, that's good enough for me," Cormac said helping the boy to his feet.

Hermione hadn't noticed that she was crumpling her own fists to balls of white fury. She was anxious for the camper herself. A few rows down from her, Hermione noticed that Macy was standing with her hands clapped over her mouth, but once Cormac had helped Dayton to his feet, both Macy and Hermione seemed to drop their hands and clapped.

Cormac clapped Dayton on the back, and Dayton gingerly moved a hand to the back of his head. He tried to rub the pain away, but it was still there. He was going to have a bump, but nothing more.

James had been escorted from the field, and perhaps off of the Camp Adventure premises, so Camp Craig had a one man advantage for the remaining two minutes of the contest. That wasn't enough to make that much of a difference, but it may be just enough to steal a win.

The scene was set for a dramatic finish. It was eerily similar to the first Camp Cup. There was a free kick from almost the same spot, but this time there was little or no time for a second chance, and the weight of the Camp Cup depended on what would happen next. Bri stepped toward the two boys that had just stood up and handed the ball to Cormac. With the game on the line, the best player should have the ball. Cormac felt stiff as soon as he stood up, something was tightening in the back of his hamstring muscle. He did his best to do a quick stretch to loosen everything up, but the tightness was too deep in his muscles and couldn't be reached easily. He shook his leg and tried to forget about his stiffening sensation.

Cormac placed the ball on the floor and was surrounded by four other counselor's. Everyone knew that this was their best opportunity for a chance to steal the points for the Camp Cup. Cormac lifted his shirt up so that it covered his mouth.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked in secret.

There were plenty of ideas, but the two best options were a straight-forward shot, or a little trickery.

"Cormac already tried to score from one of these, and the goalie saved it," Bri pointed out.

"But if anyone can make it, it's Cormac," one of the campers that wasn't Dayton pointed out.

"I think, Cormac is our best bet," Ross said looking around the small huddle.

"What about Dayton?" Gary pointed out.

"What about him?" Cormac asked taken aback. Cormac would always put the team first and was certainly a team player, but he thought it would be best if he took on the responsibility - and the glory – that came with the final shot.

Gary continued, "Just like we're all expecting Cormac to shoot, they'll expect Cormac to shoot."

Everyone looked at Gary, he was speaking logically.

"Do the same thing you guys did the first week," Gary told them, "It's worked before."

Cormac looked down around the group. Everyone seemed to be in some sort of agreement. As he looked, he didn't see that everyone was completely committed to the idea. It appeared like most of the group would've preferred for Cormac to step up for the last shot. Lastly, Cormac turned to look at Dayton.

"You feel ok?"

"I've got this," Dayton said rubbing the back of his head again.

"Alright," Cormac said stepping away from the group. He headed toward the spot where he had left the ball and stood over it with Dayton at his side. The rest of the Camp Craig counselor's moved toward the back post of the goal as diversionary and distracting targets. In the large group inside the penalty box, bodies were pairing up according to size and defending prowess. The goalie took a stance in the center of his goal. The wall in front of Dayton and Cormac did their best to align themselves in the optimal position to protect the goal. Both Cormac and Dayton were doing their best to pretend to direct traffic in the large group hovering near the goal. They were trying to make it appear like they were not responsible for the final actioon of the game, but that was all an act.

In the stands, Hermione heard people discussing what they thought was going to unfold.

"Cormac crosses the ball and it goes in off a deflection."

"Dayton shoots it and is saved by the goalie."

"Someone scores with an overhead kick."

Hermione couldn't help, but put her two cents into the conversations, "Cormac shoots it and it goes right up there." She pointed to the spot that she was predicting.

At that exact moment, Cormac peeked up over his shoulder toward the stands. He hadn't known where Hermione was in the large crowd and he wasn't necessarily looking for her, but his eyes cut through the throng and found her easily. She was pointing in his direction. He thought she was pointing at him. He smirked to himself and turned around to survey what was in front of him. He took a deep breath as he scanned the position of the wall, the position of the ball, and the position of the goalie. He took one more peek over his shoulder and the clock was beginning to count down. There was less than 120 ticks left.

Cormac gazed back at Dayton and nodded at the boy. Dayton nodded back. A sense of nervousness was on his face. Cormac turned to face the goal and made a split second decision.

Cormac took three steps toward the goal. He planted his foot securely in the grass. His kicking foot lifted off the ground and he swung it forward.

Hermione saw that there was almost a level of beauty in his kick. She had never noticed it before, but rather than the usual long sweeping motion he would take when kicking a ball, when Cormac was in the act of shooting the ball, his foot, more or less, punched the ball. If the ball had been a face, Cormac's foot would've punched it right in the nose.

Just before the moment of impact, Cormac exhaled everything in his lungs. Cormac's strike seemed to take everyone on the pitch from the Camp Craig side by surprise. They all stood still in shock. Dayton even turned his palms upward toward the sky in disbelief.

As if on a string, the ball fizzed over the defensive wall. Just as the ball looked like it would be destined to continue rising and rising, the ball dipped in a downward fashion. The ball kissed the crossbar as it tucked into the net.

The looks of shock from the players was replaced with utter jubilation. Camp Craig certainly sealed a 2-1 victory. Gary was the first to reach Cormac. He grabbed him around the waist and did his best to drag him to the ground in a hug. Cormac tried to remain on his feet, but as Gary did his best to tackle him in celebration, Cormac's tight muscle gave out on him and he was forced to collapse on the ground. Ross ran over and ruffled up Cormac's hair, while other joined in the dogpile. Even Wayne was running from the Camp Craig goal to be a part of the jubilation. The grandstands seemed to be bouncing. The only person Hermione noticed that wasn't beside them self with joy for Camp Craig was Dayton.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

"Alright, we don't slip here," Cormac said back on his defensive half of the field. The goal celebration lasted longer than most, but finally the Camp Craig team had returned to their original starting positions. Cormac was clapping and urging his team to remain focused until the end of the match.

"It's not over yet," Gary said agreeing with Cormac, even though he had a wide grin on his face.

Camp Adventure did their best to throw everything they had, including the kitchen sink, at Camp Craig, but try as they might, most of their spirits were too defeated, and Camp Craig was running on too much adrenaline. Cormac McLaggen was riding a high that he hadn't felt in a long time. Glory was his, and if Camp Craig came out on top, he could add this to his list of shining accomplishments and résumé of being a Camp Cup hero.

Each step he took, he knew that he was inching closer to his muscles giving out on him, but he could deal with that later. No matter how much his muscles told him that he needed to slow down, it was impossible for him. Cormac's final contribution of the match came when he sprinted to run down Ryan Craig, caught him, and nicked the ball right off his nemesis's feet. With ease, Cormac huffed the ball up toward Dayton as the clock wound down from fifteen remaining seconds.

Cormac put his hands up victoriously, as Dayton retrieved the ball and worked his hardest to move toward the goal. In every sense, Dayton was a miniature Cormac. The boy wanted nothing more than glory next to his name and wanted to have the final goal. Despite his best efforts, Dayton was dispossessed by Brenden. In the battle for the ball, Dayton was knocked to the ground - fairly. Dayton was left on the ground and slammed a frustrated fist into the grass.

Brenden did his best to mount one final Camp Adventure attack, but the clock expired before anything threatening could approach the Camp Craig end and Wayne Jones in goal. Smiles abounded for everyone supporting Camp Craig. The players did their best to track Cormac down and celebrate again for his late game heroics. In good spirit, Cormac did his best to run away from his teammates, but he felt a twinge in his right hamstring that stopped him. He held up his hands to instruct his friends to be gentle with him, but they were too excited for their victory. Again, they brought him to the hard ground.

"Alright, alright," Cormac said from the bottom of a pile of teenagers, "Don't hurt me, we still have one more event."

His words were true. They had tied the Camp Cup and it was time for a tie breaker. Over a set of loudspeakers, everyone was asked to meet in the cafeteria.

On the way back to the cafeteria, Cormac was tougher to get to than the Minister of Magic. Hermione had wished to get to Cormac and bid him congratulations, but she couldn't get within ten feet of him. In the cafeteria, everyone was sitting down while Camp Adventure's Mrs. Craig brought out a giant board with a wheel and arrow.

On the wheel were a bunch of activities. Across the top of this board had the words 'Tie breakers' on it.

Hermione was going to find the first available seat she could, but she heard her name called over to her.

Hermione looked in the direction that her name had come from and she smiled when it was Cormac.

He was saving a space for her to sit next to him. He waved her over and she obliged. As she sat down, the Camp Craig hero put an arm around her back and pulled her close to him. Cormac must've been in a very good mood. He released her, and reached down in Hermione's lap and took her hand in his under the table. He must've been in a very, very good mood. Hermione smiled at him and removed his hand from her lap. She wasn't scared of what people would think, or overly adverse to public displays of affection, but Cormac was just very sweaty and hot.

"Do you need any water?" Hermione asked the teenager.

"Yeah, actually," Cormac said as if water was a new concept to him.

"What about you, Dayton?" Hermione questioned.

There was no reply. She had only assumed that Dayton would be next to his beloved Cormac, but there was silence. Hermione looked around the table and almost repeated herself, but Dayton was nowhere to be seen. She scanned the room and saw Dayton sitting at an unusual table. Dayton was sitting with his head on the table next to Bryan Harsh, who seemed to be annoying Dayton.

"What's wrong with Dayton?" Hermione asked Cormac.

"What?" Cormac said as if he hadn't heard her. A few people at the table were pouring more praise over Cormac's masterful play.

Hermione repeated herself.

"I don't know. I'm assuming he's ok," Cormac said. He twisted in his seat to see what Hermione was looking at. It was the first time that he noticed the boy sulking, "What's his problem? We won."

"Is he hurt?" Hermione suggested.

"I don't think so, maybe."

Hermione stood up and headed toward one of the soda fountains in the cafeteria, and filled up three glasses of water. She carried all three back to her table. She gave two to Cormac and continued toward Dayton.

"Hey, Dayton, you played really well. You can probably use some water," Hermione placed the cup on the table.

"I'm ok," the boy said sullenly.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked sensing his poor mood.

"Nothing." He continued to look forward.

"Are you sure? Does your head hurt? Cormac said…"

Dayton appeared to make a face when Hermione said Cormac's name. She noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The boy lied.

"What did Cormac do?" Hermione said. Of course, Cormac had done something.

"Nothing," Dayton continued, he almost sounded desperate for Hermione to leave him alone.

"Just tell me, Dayton," she smiled at him.

Dayton sighed, "It's dumb, but I was supposed to shoot the free kick. I was supposed to be the Camp Craig hero. And Cormac took it. We had agreed. He didn't trust me."

Hermione listened. She didn't fully understand everything that Dayton was saying, but she was just trying to be a good counselor by listening. Dayton picked up his cup and took a sip.

Hermione rubbed Dayton's back once and said, "Well, I thought you did pretty great." She stood up and went back to her seat next to Cormac as Mr. Craig started speaking.

While Mr. Craig was talking, Hermione filled Cormac in on what Hermione had heard from Dayton.

"What does he mean 'I don't trust him'? Of course, I trust him," he almost sounded defensive.

"That's not how he sees it," Hermione told him.

"I had the best chance to score that goal and I did. He should be happy," Cormac continued.

"That's not how he sees it," she said again.

"He's being stupid," Cormac said. How could Dayton try to steal his glory?

"He's just a kid, Cormac," Hermione reminded him.

"Well, I don't know what he's complaining about, because we won," Cormac told her.

"I think he is just like you. He wants to be just like you," Hermione pointed out to him.

Cormac had a puzzled look on his face.

"Just as much as you love the spotlight, so does he," the words seemed to be true.

The pair were cut off when Mr. Craig finished talking and stepped up to the board with the wheel of activities. He gripped it tight and spun the wheel. Everyone in the cafeteria waited while different tie breaking actives went past the arrow. The wheel moved slower and slower and finally the event was decided: Capture the Flag.

People cheered and seemed excited. Capture the Flag was a staple for any summer camp. Hermione looked around and the only reaction she saw was Cormac nodding his head slowly. It appeared like he was either thinking about her words about Dayton, or a strategy for Capture the Flag - maybe it was both.

Mr. Craig invited everyone to head back to the football pitch, and asked his Camp Adventure counselors to set up the field to accommodate everything needed for the game ahead of everyone else.

By the time everyone was at the fields of Camp Adventure, everything was set up. There were two sides. Each side was equipped with a flag in a 'safe zone', a jail, and a large boundary. In the middle of the field there was a 'no man's land', where any player could roam without the fear of being sent to 'jail'. The two flags were red and blue. The first team to safely take the opponents flag and run it back to the safety of their own flag without being caught by an opposing player would win, and be the first to raise the Camp Cup for their team. The game could take anywhere from two minutes to an hour if no one retrieved the flag quickly enough.

Hermione had lost Cormac in the massive exodus to the field, but when she got to the football pitch, she didn't have a hard time finding him, because he was in the center of a group of counselors. They were talking strategy.

Gary was taking the lead in assigning responsibilities to the most important players in camp. People were given the role of "attackers", "defenders", and "jailers". Gary didn't have enough time to assign roles to every member of camp, just his most reliable lieutenants. The logic was to let most of the campers and less athletic counselors be distractions while the more valuable players retrieved the flag or defended it.

For this event, everyone was invited to play. Close to three hundred people would be running around the field in organized chaos. Hermione moved toward the back of the Camp Craig defense. She didn't see the point in working to get the flag, so maybe she would get lucky and send a few Camp Adventure members to jail. She approached the blue flag and waited. The group that Gary was instructing broke up. Half the group headed toward the 'no man's land' preparing to attack and the other half came back to defend the flag and jail. Cormac was sent back to defend.

"What are you doing back here?" Hermione asked. She had assumed that Cormac would be the first one to get to the flag and Camp Craig's best option to retrieve the token.

"Gary said we can't lose, if they can't run the flag back," Cormac definitely seemed to be the kind of person more in favor of an offensive role, but was fine with defending - for a little.

A loud bullhorn sounded and the game was underway. Herds of people were moving. Camp Craig sent half their bodies toward the red flag on the other side of the field, while fifty percent of Camp Adventure's people were hurtling toward Hermione and the blue flag.

It was in this moment that Hermione figured out why animals moved in herds. It was very difficult for her to move after one individual, because she kept getting sidetracked by all the options that she had.

She was moving after one camper from Camp Adventure, when she almost collided into a little boy on her own team. She had to dodge to her left in order to avoid tackling Bryan Harsh to the floor.

"Watch out, Judas," he told her, "We're on the same team."

"Bryan, you're in the way," she told him as Hermione continued chasing the camper from Camp Adventure.

Bryan had really gotten on Hermione's nerves over the past week. Especially as he had continued to call her Judas.

Hermione eventually caught the camper she had been pursuing and escorted him to the Camp Craig jail. Once her prisoner was successfully deposited, she returned back to her defensive duties. This time as she was chasing a female counselor from Camp Adventure, Hermione didn't have enough time to avoid knocking Bryan down to the ground. They both toppled over and Bryan lost his hat.

"Hey!" He said retrieving it and putting it back on top of his head.

"Great, I lost her," Hermione said frustrated with the camper. She watched as the counselor she had been chasing passed the invisible barrier that offered her temporary sanctuary. When Hermione looked into the 'safe zone' there were roughly a dozen people in there. How had so many people gotten in there?

"Cormac!" Hermione shouted. Now that she was playing, Hermione didn't want to see Camp Craig lose. And in order for that to happen they needed Cormac.

"Yes?" He was standing right next to Hermione. His calm tone was farcical next to Hermione's nervous cry for him a moment earlier.

"How did all these people get to our flag?" Hermione said eyeing the group that was in their 'safe zone' even one older camper had the flag in his hand looking down the field at how far his flag was from where he was standing.

"I let them in," Cormac said plainly.

"Are you trying to lose?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears.

"Of course not," he sounded amazed.

"How…" She was cut off, when the camper holding the blue flag tried to escape to his side of the field.

Then Cormac's strategy made perfect sense. Cormac shot out after the child and was within a fingertip from catching him, but Cormac collided into Bryan Harsh. The poor camper was just in everyone's way.

Cormac clattered into Bryan and knocked him to the ground. Cormac lost his balance, but remained standing. He reached his top speed again in two more steps. The camper that had retrieved the flag was caught before he got halfway to 'no man's land'. The boy had to return the flag back to the safe zone before he was escorted to the Camp Craig jail.

"It doesn't matter if they get TO the flag," Cormac said trotting back next to Hermione, "They can't get it back to their flag if I catch all of them."

Hermione thought that Cormac's idea was actually genius. She looked at him with a look of admiration, and noticed that he seemed to be massaging the back of his leg. He was still feeling the stress on his muscles from his hard work from the day.

"Good work, Cormac," Bryan said coming up on Cormac's side.

"Thanks, Bryan," Cormac said absently.

Just at that moment, another person tried to take the blue flag and return it to their Camp Adventure home base. The person running hoped that Bryan would get in Cormac's way again and it worked. Bryan tried to chase the Camp Adventure attacker, but just shielded Cormac's path to the carrier of the flag. Cormac was able to get around Bryan, and caught the runner before they were any real threat.

"Bryan, stop defending. You're getting in my way. Just go get the other flag," Cormac said pointing in the opposite direction.

"Whatever you say. I'll go get it," Bryan said with a sense of pride.

Once he was out of earshot, Cormac turned to Hermione, "Hopefully, he gets caught and put in jail."

"You're horrible," Hermione said, even though she was thinking the same thing.

For the first ten minutes of the game, there were too many people and the game was chaos, but once people were starting to become more calculated and cautious, things slowed down. There were people stuck in jail, people 'stuck' in the opponent's safe zone, and people hovering in 'no man's land'. The game had reached a standstill.

From the opposite side of the field, there were shouts of Cormac's name. Both Hermione and Cormac turned around quickly. There was a good number of Camp Craig's most valuable team members stuck in jail and begging for Cormac to retrieve them. Cormac had amassed a small posse of people that were helping him track down the Camp Adventure attackers as they left with the blue flag. He instructed several of them to defend until he got back.

"Don't let them win," Cormac ordered. One camper nodded and stood in the space that Cormac had just been standing in.

Hermione looked at her shoulder, "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"What?" He asked jogging toward 'no man's land'.

"You leaving defense," she pointed out. She followed him.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea, but I'm bored," he said standing on the border between 'no man's land' and the Camp Adventure territory.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to break everyone out of jail, come back, get their flag and win."

"Bold words," Hermione said. There was a loud commission back by the Camp Craig flag as someone tried to return the blue flag to the red one, but the posse that Cormac left in charge caught the Camp Adventure thief.

"And I better be quick," he took off at a full sprint toward the jail. Hermione watched as he weaved through every free space that he could find. Cormac juked and twisted until he was able to reach the jail. Once he had slapped hands with someone from the Camp Craig side that had been captured, the entire team was set free. Everyone had a free pass back to 'no man's land'. It had taken Cormac less than fifteen seconds to cut through everyone and return with the Camp Craig crew.

"Wow," Hermione said looking on impressed.

"How was that?" Again, he was massaging the back of his leg even though he had a large smile on his face.

Another ruckus erupted from behind them, and the Camp Adventure runner was almost free until Cormac took off and caught them from the front side. That hardly ever happened so when Cormac popped up in front of the female counselor that was running with the flag, she was caught by surprise and almost screamed as Cormac caught her.

Cormac went back to stand next to Hermione in the neutral zone, once the flag had been returned.

"Now what?" Hermione asked looking at all the running bodies in front of her. There seemed to be so many people from Camp Adventure. How could anyone reach the safe zone?

"Now," he paused, "we run." And again, he took off at full speed. Hermione didn't know why, but she listened to Cormac.

She was almost certain that she was going to be stopped, but no one seemed to pay any attention to her. Foolishly, everyone thought if they could stop Cormac it would be the best thing for Camp Adventure. They were correct in thinking that, but first they had to catch Cormac. While Cormac created the diversion, Hermione almost made it through without reaching any threat of being caught. This wasn't to detract from Hermione's athleticism. She was in fact pretty pacy, but Cormac's distraction aided in her apparent success.

Just as she was about to step into the free zone, she saw someone approach her from the corner of her eye. It was Brenden Fonte. He was reaching for Hermione and was certainly going to capture her and put her in jail before she reached safety.

"If you touch her, I will cut off your fucking hand," Cormac said coolly as he stepped into the free zone from the other side. He had just weaved through everyone and was breathing hard, but was staring at Brenden with a fury of seriousness. Brenden halted in his footsteps and retracted his hand. Apparently, Brenden enjoyed his hands attached to his body.

Just like the Camp Craig free zone, there were several bodies in there. Most of them were little campers. They had heard what Cormac said and were looking for someone to scold him for using such language, but the way that he said the words alerted everyone that now was not the time for someone to make a comment.

Hermione stepped into the free zone feeling a little odd. She was proud that she had gotten to the base, but was a little unsure of how she felt about that interaction.

Hermione did her best to shake that off. She looked around the free zone and there were only campers aside from Cormac and herself. She looked around the little safe space and couldn't see the flag anywhere.

"Who has the flag?" She asked.

"I do." It was Dayton. He was standing at the edge of the free zone and was looking at what was in front of him. The Camp Adventure team had taken the same approach as Cormac had. To them it didn't matter who got into the free zone as long as they could cut off the path to the other side, it was fine.

"Alright, give me the flag, Dayton, and then we can win and go home," Cormac said reaching out his hand to receive it from the camper.

"No," Dayton said still looking up and down the field.

"Quick messing around," Cormac said reaching out to Dayton's front, "give me the flag."

"No," a flurry of voices spoke up in protest.

"I have a plan."

"Cormac, take the flag."

"Dayton, give it to him."

"I have a plan."

"Don't be selfish."

"Let Cormac have it."

"I have a plan!"

The voice that had been repeating itself was loud and firm. It was also behind Hermione. Everyone turned around to see where it had come from.

"I've got a plan," Bryan said a little embarrassed to be caught speaking in front of such a large group.

"Not now, Bryan," Cormac said looking down at Dayton, "Give me the flag."

"No," Dayton said still holding it.

"It's a really good plan," Bryan said putting a little more conviction in his voice.

"No," Cormac replied.

"At least listen to him, Cormac," Hermione told him. Her voice was also rising.

"Look, I'm just trying to win the game for us," Cormac explained. Just as he was saying that, there was a bunch of shouting from the opposite side of the field, Camp Adventure had almost retrieved the flag again, "We're running out of time. Dayton, give it to me," he almost went to pull it out of the boy's hands.

"Cormac," Hermione almost shouted at him, "Let's listen to Bryan's plan." She needed an excuse for Cormac's to cool off. She didn't really care about Bryan's plan, she just wanted Cormac to not act like a child.

"Fine," he exhaled, "Let's hear it."

"It might actually work," someone said.

"It's pretty good," another agreed.

"I have to agree if we all run in different directions, they may get tripped up over themselves," Hermione softly added.

Neither Dayton nor Cormac spoke. They only listened to the words that everyone else was saying.

"So do we agree?" Bryan asked everyone.

No one said otherwise. The group formed a real tight circle in the middle of the free zone.

"Hey, which of them has the flag?" One of the defenders asked. The camper was up on his toes trying to see which of the Camp Craigers had the red flag in his or her hand.

"I can't tell," Brenden said also trying to catch a glimpse of red, "But keep an eye on McLaggen."

There was a series of murmurs from the small circle of Camp Craigers. They sounded like they were arguing about something. Brenden looked around to see where his help was if he needed any, in case the Camp Craig team made a break for it. When he looked back to where the flag was, he noticed that Cormac was massaging the muscles on the back of his leg as if he were readying himself for a run.

"This is pointless," Cormac said at the top of his lungs. It sounded like he was getting tired of arguing with everyone.

All the Camp Adventure eyes were on him. Cormac looked down the length of the field and there looked like another surge out of the Camp Craig free zone, but it was dealt with.

"Give me that thing," Cormac said. There was a flash of red ripped out of the small circle. Cormac ran as fast as his legs would take him to the left. His explosive push was almost the last straw that his fatigued legs could take. If he pushed himself any harder, he felt like he could damage something in his leg. He could deal with that later. At the moment, he had one job.

As Cormac burst out of the group of Camp Craig, everyone else on Cormac's team scattered. It appeared like the agreed upon plan had fallen through.

"Don't lose McLaggen," Brenden said as he got caught in the chaos. As swift as Cormac was, Brenden was able to gain space on him with Cormac's hindered leg.

Cormac took a quick look over his right shoulder and saw Brenden approaching him. Cormac tried to push his legs to move a little faster. They obeyed, but he could feel his muscles straining to tell him to slow down. Cormac's goal was to get to the edge of the boundary and hopefully get to 'no man's land' safely. His arms were doing their best to help power him forward. The red cloth was waving with every stride he took.

Brenden along with the rest of his defenders had begun their pursuit of Cormac, and they were closing on him. The entire defensive line was after Camp Craig's Camp Cup hero.

Cormac looked back and had a sudden wave of confidence rush over him. If he could turn up the pace just a hair, he could be clear to safety. With the most effort, he willed his muscles to fire even faster. Then it happened.

"Gah," Cormac said slowing his body from a sprint, to a jog, to a skip, to a walk. He reached back with a hand and grabbed onto the muscle that had exceeded its limit. Disappointed in himself, Cormac looked skyward wincing in pain. His leg was not only in severe pain, but it was now spasming uncontrollably. Behind him, Brenden and the rest of Camp Adventure were slowing to catch the injured Cormac. Cormac looked in front of himself and Ryan Craig was approaching him. Just as Cormac had caught the Camp Adventure attacker, Ryan slowly approached Cormac from the front with a hand out.

"I think I'll take that," Ryan said nodding toward the red fabric in Cormac's hand.

Cormac smiled at Ryan. This was unsettling. Surely, Cormac was suffering from heat stroke. He had the victory all but sealed for his team, but here he was captured and clearly unable to continue in the competition.

"You can hand that over," Ryan said again looking to Cormac's grip.

"I don't think it'll fit you," Cormac said, unruffling what was in his hand.

It was a bright red hat. It was Bryan Harsh's bright red hat.

On the other side of the field, there were shouts and cheers of jubilation. All from the Camp Craigers.

During the mix-up and confusion, Dayton had taken the real flag out of the back of the free zone, waited for everyone to follow Cormac, and had a free path to the other side of the field down the right side. Cormac smiled at Ryan and Brenden before he used a combination of a skip and walk to the other side of the field to celebrate with his teammates.

It appeared like all the negative feelings toward Cormac had been forgotten by Dayton. He ran over to Cormac and jumped up and down waving the flag in the air.

"Good work, mate," Cormac said pulling him into a side hug and ruffling his hair. Once he was done rubbing Dayton's head, Cormac returned his hand back to his leg.

"Yes! We won!"

It was Bryan Harsh running up from the Camp Adventure side. The poor pudgy boy was so slow to getting back to the celebrating half of the field.

"Bryan," Cormac shouted, "You beautiful genius!"

Cormac bent down and opened his arms up to the boy, who openly accepted his first opportunity to be lifted by Cormac. Cormac put his hands under the boy's arms and lifted him in the air. Several others joined where Cormac was. The story of Bryan's plan to succeed had reached the ears of almost everyone on the Camp Craig side. The counselors gathered around Cormac and Bryan. The counselors got their arms under Bryan's weight and tossed him in the air in triumph over and over again. The boy had a gleeful look. It was the first time that he had been the star of the show. Something that was very, very Cormac McLaggen.

Not everyone could hoist Bryan up in the air, so the spare arms found Dayton and threw him up and down as well as people chanted his name.

As promised, Dayton was the first person to lift the Camp Cup up for the Camp Craigers. This victory was the sweetest that anyone could remember. No one could recall the last time that a Camp Cup had gone into overtime.

It was all anyone could talk about leading up to the time that the members of Camp Craig got back on the buses and headed back to the other side of the lake. Hermione thought that it took a little longer than necessary to get everyone into the buses, but after a few rounds of head counts all the campers were accounted for. Mr. Craig seemed to be the only person missing. After an extra minute or two of waiting, the camp director entered the bus with a piece of paper in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Back to Camp Craig," he instructed the bus driver who closed the door and fired the engine up.

Everything was right with the world on the bus. Hermione was sitting next to Cormac who was doing his best to massage his leg. It had been diagnosed by the Camp Adventure nurse that he had either strained or pulled a muscle in his hamstring. Only time would tell. He would be unable to participate in excessive activity for at least a week. That news would've been devastating to Cormac, but not after a crucial Camp Craig victory.

The seat in front of Cormac and Hermione was occupied by Dayton and Bryan. All three laughing and being praised over and over by anyone within earshot. Cormac's final goal, Dayton's heroic flag return, and Bryan's clever plan were all that anyone could talk about.

Hermione felt that the cheeriness was contagious as she saw all three boys' faces threatening to rip at the seams from smiling so hard.

Once back at Camp Craig, Mr. Craig informed everyone that because of the tie breaking activity, everything was behind schedule. The campers would need to hustle back to their cabins for a final check that they had all their possessions and their cabins were clean.

"Counselors, if you could stay back for a second," Mr. Craig addressed the group at large.

The campers, worried that they may miss their trains, or be left behind by their parents, flooded out of the amphitheater and back to their cabins. Once only the counselors were left behind, Mr. Craig continued.

"I am so proud of all of you," he said to everyone, even though he seemed to only be able to find Cormac's eyes, "Not only did we win a very important Camp Cup to me, but we really impressed the Camp Adventure campers."

At these words everyone went to look at the other. What did this mean?

"This list," he held up the sheet of paper that looked pretty filled out, "Is a list of campers that didn't like Camp Adventure this week, and want to come to Camp Craig starting next week. This is because of a combination of how Camp Adventure was run this week – and especially today- and the great job all of you did today."

The counselors had smiles of pride on their faces.

"This means a few things," Mr. Craig continued, "It's a serious double win for us at Camp Craig, because we won the Camp Cup, but also, we increased our enrollment. That means, we don't need to ask four of you to take holiday time next week."

"How many of us can stay?" Ross was the first to pipe up.

"Well, we can keep two of you," Mr. Craig informed them, "I don't know how you four want to decide that, but I'm sure you'll want to let me know sooner, rather than later."

Hermione, Ross, Naomi and Wayne all looked at each other. They all had the same thoughts going through their mind. Ross wanted to stay and work - that was clear. Naomi and Wayne wanted to stay together, so maybe they could go on holiday together, but Wayne had said that he would rather stay and work than go somewhere. Hermione was indifferent, but she was only one of the two. How would they decide who the second person would be?

"I'll leave you guys to decide that, but everyone else, great job, and let's finish this week," Mr. Craig said to them.

"So how do we decide this?" Ross asked everyone, once those four were left alone. Everyone else was either already up the steps of the amphitheater, or on their way up.

"Well, I don't care either way," Hermione pointed out. She wasn't just trying to be diplomatic, she really didn't have a preference.

"Well, if I can stay and work, I really want to stay," Ross put on the table - this was not new news to anyone.

"Well, we've already paid for our flights," Naomi pointed to Wayne.

"So did I," Hermione told her. But she remained diplomatic, "But I can cancel or change it. I'm sure the airline will give me a voucher for another flight of equal value."

"Well, I'd prefer to stay and work too," Wayne confessed.

"But I want to do whatever you do," Naomi said looking at her boyfriend.

"Well, we all can't stay and work," Hermione stated the obvious.

"How about I go on holiday?"

Everyone looked back to the steps of the amphitheater. The four of them had thought that everyone was already on their way to the cabins, but Cormac was hobbling so slowly that he was having a difficult time with most of the steps.

"You?" Everyone asked in unison.

"Yeah, why not?" Cormac asked, from where he was. He didn't dare go down any steps on his bad leg.

"Mr. And Mrs. Craig would never go for it," Ross said. Ross was somewhat in awe of Cormac but also somewhat jealous of him.

"Why? I'm not going to be much use to them for a week," Cormac said motioning to his leg, "I can hardly keep up with any campers, and I won't be any use in the Camp Cup."

It was a sound logical argument.

"This way you three can stay and work, and Hermione and I can take the week off - don't look at me like that Naomi," Cormac stated, "We aren't going anywhere together. I might go to one of my family's houses for a week. Stay off my feet and relax."

"Well, I don't know," Hermione said. She already had her ticket to Dubrovnik booked and she really didn't want to travel by herself in a foreign place.

"What do you mean?" Ross asked, "This sounds perfect." He was ready to pounce on any opportunity that worked out so that he could continue to work and make money.

"Well, I already have my ticket," she started.

"You can deal with that," Cormac told her waving dismissively.

Hermione only wanted to be as accommodating as possible, so she stifled her want to voice her opinion, and decided that she could just get a ticket voucher for a different flight on a different date. Maybe a trip back to her parents' home would be nice.

"So is that settled then?" Wayne asked the group, "Ross, Naomi and I stay and work, while you two 'volunteer' to take holiday?"

Everyone seemed to nod.

"Thanks, Cormac."

"Appreciate it, mate."

"Thank you."

Naomi, Wayne and Ross headed off toward their cabins to make sure their campers were ready to exit. They had a new amount of life in their step.

Hermione and Cormac were the only two left in the amphitheater. They stood in place and just looked at each other. Hermione almost had the feeling like she wanted to cry. How did this change from a vacation with two of her friends to her spending a lonely week at her parents' home?

"So now what?" She said looking at Cormac. She was pretty annoyed with what he had just done. He had thrown a wrench in her perfect plans for a great week.

"First," he said moving a finger that gestured her to come to his side. She didn't want to but, she obeyed, "you come here." He placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Second, you're going to help me to my cabin." He slung an arm around her neck and tried to get her to help him limp up the steps, but she was too short to really help him. "Third, you're going to help me pack." He kissed her on the forehead, "Then we're going to go to Croatia."

**A/N:**** I apologize that these postings have been so sporadic! I'm working to finish this story up for you in 5 or 6 chapters. I will get you some more good smut in there, I promise. I've been having a hard time coming back and finishing AVHS, because I've been busy crafting up a new story (does anyone else have these issues of other ideas popping up all too often?). Let me know what you guys would like to see in the trip to Croatia. I've started a few chapters, but for the most part they're up in the air for suggestions.**

**jrb2009**


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

It took Cormac only five minutes to rummage around his cabin and gather what he deemed necessary for a week in Dubrovnik. In Hermione's opinion it was not nearly enough. He only filled up one small duffle bag. Regardless of what Hermione thought, he considered himself 'ready', threw the bag over his shoulder and limped down the pathway toward the Gatehouse. Hermione headed to her cabin and grabbed her larger sized duffle bag, threw it over her shoulder and joined Cormac on the path.

Up at the Gatehouse, Hermione and Cormac ran into Mr. and Mrs. Craig. They had already heard from the other counselors that Cormac had volunteered to take the week off due to 'injury', but also by choice.

"Cormac, are you sure?" Mrs. Craig asked him. She didn't want to see him go, because he was such a pivotal, helpful member at camp – not that Hermione wasn't.

"Yeah, I won't be much use to you guys for a little while," Cormac explained. Again, he motioned to his right leg. "The next session will be here tomorrow and I can hardly get around."

"Ok, well take care of yourself," Mrs. Craig sounded disappointed. Cormac was one of her all-time favorites. It seemed that no one could repel Cormac's charm.

"So what do you two have in mind?" Mr. Craig asked, "A romantic getaway for two?"

"Absolutely not," Cormac answered while Hermione turned red, "I think Hermione is either going home or flying to Croatia, and I'm going to one of my family's houses."

"What a glamorous life you live, Cormac. And Hermione, you stay safe," Mr. Craig finished.

"I will," Hermione told him.

"Alright, let's head to the station," Cormac said leading Hermione toward one of the buses that was almost ready to leave for the train depot.

Once there, Cormac bought a ticket to the Heathrow airport and the pair of them found seats and silently rode toward London. For a while, the train ride felt like more work as campers that were in the same car as them tried to keep them company. The kids had wanted to play cards, or share stories. Even though they weren't working, Cormac and Hermione did the best they could to be good sports. Slowly, the campers filed off the train and were met by their parents. Soon Hermione and Cormac were the only people from Camp Craig left in their car.

Hermione was looking out the window at the beautiful country, when she went to make a comment to Cormac, she saw that he was asleep. Rightfully so, he had worked so hard that day. His head was leaned up against the glass of the train. His mouth was open and he was fogging up his window. While that was happening, his chest was rising and falling peacefully.

Hermione couldn't help herself. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Cormac's mouth flexed and twisted into a small smile as he swallowed. His eyes remained shut, but he reached over with a hand and stole one of Hermione's. He rested it in his lap and held her hand. He was back asleep in seconds.

Cormac was able to steal a thirty-minute nap, before Hermione woke him up just before the stop inside the airport. The pair of them stepped off the train and into the bowels of the massive center of transportation. They had to ride a few escalators until they were in the main terminals of the massive travel hub.

"Let's make sure that I can get a ticket," Cormac said to her. The pair of them headed to the kiosk of the same airline Hermione was flying.

"You should be ok if Naomi and Wayne cancelled their flights," Hermione pointed out. And she was right.

"We have a few openings on this flight," the attendant told the pair of them.

"Perfect," Cormac said. "Do you have any seats close to - Hermione, what seat are you?"

Hermione looked down at the ticket she had just received from a different attendant and told Cormac her seat assignment.

"I have one that is close, but not right next to her," the attendant told them.

"That's fine. I'll take that one," Cormac told her. He paid the fee and received his ticket. He also handed his bag over to be retrieved once they were in Croatia.

"Security is that way," the attendant said motioning the direction with her hand.

"Thanks," the two teenagers said.

Hermione was feeling giddy. It was going to be one thing staying in hostels with Wayne and Naomi - maybe she would feel like a third wheel at times - but something was exciting about going on a vacation with Cormac. This boy that she had hardly known before a few weeks ago. Something about him made her want to trust him, and made her feel safe. Maybe it was because she knew he was a wizard, and she knew what wizards were capable of. Or maybe it was because he was a Gryffindor and Gryffindors stick together. But it had nothing to do with that. Hermione trusted Cormac, and she liked him and he liked her. It was easy to trust him.

The pair of them went through security and were both held up. Hermione's bag was set aside and inspected. Hermione had never been stopped at security before.

"Is this your bag?" The security officer asked.

"Yes," they both admitted.

"We found something funny on the x-rays," the officer said taking Hermione to the side. Cormac followed.

"It looks like something odd," the officer unzipped Hermione's duffle. Lying under a layer of clothes, the officer pulled out a straight piece of wood, "Oh?"

It was Hermione's wand. Both of the wizards got wide-eyed.

"Oh, it's just a stick. We'll be careful with this. Don't poke an eye out." The officer replaced it back in the bag gently.

"Yes, Sir," Hermione said retrieving the bag back from the officer. She and Cormac hurried away toward their gate.

"I've never seen that happen," Cormac said with a chuckle.

"What was I supposed to do," Hermione asked him.

"I check my bag and pick it up at baggage claim," Cormac told her, "I've never known a wizard to fly with a wand. Well, I shouldn't say that - some wizards fly. But most of them just Apparate. So I don't know what you're supposed to do."

"Maybe on the way back, I'll check it," Hermione said. She was feeling self-conscious about her wand, but everything proved to be fine.

The two teenagers made it to their gate and sat down in two seats next to each other. Hermione dropped her duffle bag and sat down. Cormac put an arm up around her back. He gently pulled her close to him. Hermione rested her head on Cormac's shoulder. It was close to five o'clock. Their flight was supposed to leave around six and they would land an hour and forty-five minutes later.

"Are you hungry?" Cormac asked Hermione.

Hermione hadn't thought of it, but now that she thought on the question she could admit that she was hungry.

"Here," Cormac said digging into his pocket and pulling out a few notes, "why don't you go get something?"

Hermione took the money, "What about you?"

"I'll move too slow. Go get something you want and get me the same thing, please."

"Ok," Hermione said standing up. She looked up and down the terminal and didn't see anything that really stood out to her, so she just went to wander aimlessly until she found something that sounded good.

Hermione settled on some quick Chinese food. She was handed two takeout boxes of food and two bottles of water. When she returned she saw Cormac rummaging in her duffle bag. She wasn't mad. He could do whatever he wanted, as she got closer she saw that he appeared to be in a conversation with an older gentleman. Maybe he was trying to appear busy in Hermione's bag to get out of the conversation.

"Hey, Hermione," Cormac said greeting Hermione. He sounded relieved more than anything.

"Hey," Hermione said sitting down on the other side of Cormac, because the older gentleman was in the seat that she had previously been occupying. She handed Cormac the container of food and he opened it and went about eating it.

The older man continued talking, "Oh a very pretty girlfriend." The man spoke with an accent that Hermione couldn't quite pinpoint. As the conversation went on, it became known that the man was from Ghana.

"You need to be careful of the pretty girlfriends though," the man warned Cormac, "all they want is your money."

Cormac smiled cordially and took a bite out of his lo mein.

"I have three girlfriends back home. Very young. Very beautiful." The man continued talking at Cormac rather than with him, but Cormac didn't seem to mind. He had his food and was content with Hermione by his side.

"...So I travel a lot for work, and I don't have a lot of time back home..." It was twenty minutes later, when Cormac was saved because the attendant at the gate announced that they were going to begin boarding. The first class passengers were invited to board and then those with special priority access. The Ghanaian excused himself to board early and thanked Cormac for listening.

"Oh, man," Cormac exhaled. Finally, he was able to pick up his empty container of Chinese food and brought it to the garbage.

"That was very nice of you," Hermione pointed out.

"Some people just want to share their life story. I'm not going anywhere, so I could listen."

Cormac and Hermione's group was called to board and the two of them stood up and headed toward the ticket counter. Hermione had to re-zip her bag, because it had been slightly opened.

Hermione looked down at her ticket. It was located against a window and toward the rear of the plane.

"Hey, what seat are you?" Hermione asked Cormac once they stepped off the jetway and onto the plane.

"I'm pretty close to you," Cormac told her.

They both walked down the length of the small plane. There were three sets of seats on either side of the aisle. In Hermione's row, she saw that there was a gentleman already sitting in the middle seat on her same side.

"Hi," Hermione said almost apologetically. She pointed with her dainty finger, "I think that's my seat by the window," she pointed to the seat next to him.

The man appeared annoyed, even though it wasn't Hermione's fault. He unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up and out to the aisle to allow her to get passed.

The man was about to slide back into his seat, when Cormac spoke.

"Hi," the man looked in Cormac's direction with more annoyance at the teenager, "I think you're actually in my seat." Cormac had a look of awkward apology stamped on his face.

"I don't think so, kid," the man told him.

Hermione looked back at the interaction once she had finished stowing her duffle bag in the overhead space, and put her seatbelt on. She saw that Cormac was holding her wand in his hand. He was tapping it against his bicep. He wasn't doing it in a threatening manner, it just would've looked odd to the unfamiliar eye. It almost looked like a drumstick that he was rapping against his arm.

"Can you take a look at your ticket?" Cormac asked.

"Read it yourself," the man said reaching into his pocket and handing Cormac the piece of paper.

He reached for it with his left hand. Cormac's ticket was also in his left hand. He looked at both pieces of paper, and appeared to squint at them. Hermione was the only person that caught him mouth something discretely.

"Yeah, my ticket says that this is my seat," Cormac said handing the man back his piece of paper. He was pointing at the seat next to Hermione.

"What? No." The man looked at it and then double checked to see which row he was in. He grumbled something, retrieved his things and went back into the aisle and plodded farther back in the plane.

Cormac slid into the seat next to Hermione. He held her wand out to him.  
"What did you just do?" Hermione questioned him.

"Nothing," he smiled, "and if the Department of Underage Magic asks remember, 'I do not recall', is the answer you give them."

Hermione was impressed with Cormac's use of slick magic.

After the necessary safety speech from the flight attendants, it wasn't long until the plane was airborne.

Hermione hadn't noticed that she had fallen asleep the moment that they had taken off. She didn't stir until the landing gear came into contact with the ground. She was jolted awake. It wasn't the smoothest landing that she had ever experienced. To her side, Cormac was squeezing the armrest so hard his knuckles were white. She wanted to make a comment about it, but she was still groggy from just waking up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the entire flight crew, we would like to welcome you to Croatia. Baggage for this flight can be picked up at carousel four." The same announcement was made in what Hermione assumed was Croatian.

Hermione and Cormac waited their turn to exit from their seats into the aisle. Cormac assisted Hermione in taking her bag out of the overhead storage and allowed her to head toward the exit at the front of the plane. Hermione thanked the flight attendants as she stepped onto the jetway. She expected Cormac to be right behind her, but he was several steps behind her. The flight had stiffened his injured leg. Once he was off the jetway and into the main terminal of the airport, Hermione was glad to see that his leg has loosened enough so that he could walk along with a hardly noticeable limp.

Hermione looked around and there were signs mixed with three different languages in the airport. What she guessed was Croatian was the most prevalent, then there was a tie for French and English. Walking down the terminal hall, Hermione noticed that everywhere she looked there seemed to be signs that enticed the reader to "Visit Dubrovnik". It seemed odd that the signs would advertise a town that she was already in.

"I need to pee," Cormac told her, "do you?"

Hermione hardly heard his words while she was thinking. She just caught them and she shook her head no.

Cormac ducked into the nearest men's restroom.

Hermione waited against a wall. Again, her eyes wandered. She read one sign, "Welcome to Zagreb International Airport".

Hermione wasn't going to be the first to boast her knowledge of European geography. She had spent more of her time understanding runes and spells, but she was pretty sure that Zagreb and Dubrovnik were in different corners of the country.

Why hadn't Naomi picked an airline that flew directly to Dubrovnik? Why hadn't Hermione taken the responsibility of making these plans? Or why hadn't Cormac said anything?

The answer to those questions were simple. In Naomi's haste to find the cheapest options for a week-long vacation, Naomi had thought that a two-hour flight, and an eleven-hour bus ride to the other city would be the most cost effective. Hermione knew that she shouldn't have let such a task fallen to someone else. It was pompous to think it, but who was more responsible than Hermione. The last thing that annoyed Hermione was that Cormac hadn't said anything. If he had been such an avid world traveler, how didn't he notice that a trip to Zagreb wasn't the same as a trip to Dubrovnik.

Cormac was running wet hands through his hair when he stepped out of the washroom.

"Cormac, did you know that we are in Zagreb?" Hermione questioned him. It was meant to be a rhetorical question. There was a little sass in her voice. With the time change, it was getting close to nine in the evening.

"Yes, Hermione, I can read," Cormac said looking confused.

"How are we supposed to get to Dubrovnik now?" She said looking annoyed.

"Are you a witch or what?" Cormac kept his voice down when he said it, but the expression on his face made it look like the answer was obvious.

Hermione just looked questioningly at him.

"Have a little faith, Granger," Cormac said to her as he turned and headed toward the signs that were indicating the direction toward baggage claim.

While Hermione and Cormac waited for Cormac's bag to drop onto the baggage carousel, the pair viewed a bunch of people that they recognized from their flight. The person that was most recognizable was the man that Cormac had switched seats with.

The man seemed to be very on edge. He was bouncing up and down on his toes. "Come on," the man kept repeating in English. He was looking down at his watch and staring on with apprehension as each bag came round and round.

Hermione was tiring of holding her bag, so she rested it on the floor. Cormac made a move that seemed to bring him down to the floor.

Hermione didn't know why, but airport floors always seemed dirty to her, so the thought of sitting on the ground did not appeal to her. She didn't want to judge, so she just kept her gaze focused on the carousel trying to recognize Cormac's bag, but the only thing that kept her attention was the impatient man by the chute that the bags were coming out of.

A few things happened at once, a sarcastic call of "Finally," sounded as the man's bag appeared to slide down to within his reach, the man bustled forward so that he could grab his bag, and the sound of a zipper being opened reached Hermione's ears.

Hermione looked down at her bag and saw that Cormac wasn't sitting on the floor, but kneeling and looking in Hermione's bag. Again, he had reached into Hermione's bag and stealthily withdrawn her wand.

Hermione was trying to shoot Cormac a warning look with daggers from her eyes, but Cormac didn't see them. With the slightest turn and flick of his wrist - along with some whispered words - the man's bag exploded opened which allowed the contents to spill all over the waiting area. People had to hold back their laughter.

The man swore in a language that wasn't English. Hermione couldn't look away from the disaster. She was like a deer in headlights. Hermione was able to peel her eyes away from the man that was trying to gather his belongings and stared down at Cormac. He was putting Hermione's wand back in her bag inconspicuously. Hermione lashed out a foot at him and kicked him in the shin from where he was kneeling.

"Ow," he said looking up at her.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked him. It appeared to be quite rude and juvenile.

"That guy is an asshole," Cormac said coming up to his full height.

"_You're_ the asshole," Hermione said looking on as the man continued to swear in his native tongue.

"No, _he's_ an asshole," He confirmed, "he wasn't very nice on the plane."

Cormac thought that he could get to police who was an asshole or not? In Hermione's opinion, he didn't exactly have a leg to stand on.

"And I was a little bored," Cormac confessed, after Hermione had crossed her arms.

"That makes you the asshole," Hermione's voice was rising as Cormac appeared to be walking away from her. She was caught by surprise when she noticed how loud her words were carrying. She was getting annoyed that Cormac was walking away from her lecture, but she couldn't be too upset when the teenager walked up to the baggage claim, took his bag and turned back to Hermione. As Cormac was beginning to head back to Hermione, he accidentally nudged into the man that was busily on all fours trying to recover his objects.

"You again? Out of the way, boy," the man appeared to reach up to Cormac's calf and attempted to shove the teenager aside.

Cormac was completely unharmed and even unmoved. He just did his best to step around the man. As Cormac moved to the side, he slung his duffle bag over his shoulder. He returned to Hermione's side and made a face that almost spoke. "See," it would've said.

"Ok, where to now?" Hermione asked Cormac, who seemed to be blindly searching for something in his bag.

"We head to the train," Cormac instructed her.

"I was looking and there doesn't seem to be a train to Dubrovnik," Hermione said matter-of-factually.

"I already asked you," Cormac's voice got softer, "Are you a witch or what?"

"Ok, fine," Hermione said allowing Cormac to lead the way. As Hermione stepped behind Cormac to follow him, Hermione noticed that he had something in his hand. With the quickest flick of his wrist, Cormac's wand snapped in the direction of the man that had just finished retrieving all of his wares and was finishing zipping his bag. Hermione followed the path of where Cormac's spell travelled invisibly. The zipper to the man's bag snapped off, and he had lost all hopes of closing his bag successfully. Again, everything fell out.

Hermione slapped Cormac on the arm.

"Ok, maybe I'm an asshole," a wry smile came across his face.

It was late enough that when Cormac and Hermione had arrived at the station, there was hardly anyone there. Hermione looked down at her watch and could only imagine what time they would get into the city. At this rate, they wouldn't be getting into Dubrovnik until the next afternoon.

Hermione was doing her best to be annoyed with Cormac. She thought that a steady helping of the silent treatment would be penance enough for his childish behavior in the terminal.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Cormac had said for the second time.

What was he doing trying to apologize to her for? She wasn't the one that required the apology.

"I'll make it up to you when we get there," Cormac said sitting back and lounging in his seat on the train.

The pair of them had bought tickets for one stop away from the airport. Hermione was still unaware of what their plans were to get to the city, but she hadn't bothered to ask. She was curious, but talking to Cormac would break her temporary vow of silence.

After his other attempts to get Hermione to open up to him failed, Cormac tried a different approach, "We are going to be traveling by Portkey."

"Portkey?" Hermione had had the pleasure of traveling by teleportation once before on her way to the Quidditch World Cup just before her Fourth Year.

"How do you have a connection in the Ministry that can get you a portkey?" Hermione questioned.

Cormac chuckled, "This isn't a favor from a family friend," Cormac started, "It's a service from the Croatian Ministry's Magical Travel Department."

"What is?" Hermione asked.

"There is no easy way from Zagreb to Dubrovnik. You could get a connecting flight, but a portkey is much faster." Hermione looked at Cormac with a hint of confusion, "There's no layover." He explained.

Hermione seemed to ponder over Cormac's words and they seemed to make sense. Hermione continued to sit there in silence trying to remember her first experience traveling by portkey.

After a little silence, the train started moving. After a moment, the train left the underground of the airport and was out in the darkness of the night.

"Why do you think I had a connection that could get us our own portkey?" Cormac asked out of nowhere.

"I don't know," Hermione said. She didn't know where she got that impression from, "It just seems like your family is well connected or something like that." Hermione had hardly known Cormac around Hogwarts, but she was sure that when she saw him, he was always well-dressed and had the newest nicest wizarding things. Even at camp, he seemed like the kind of boy that had always been financially taken care of.

Cormac looked at her with no judgement in his eyes.

"I don't know, isn't your dad in the Ministry or something?" She thought she had heard that before.

Cormac seemed to have a little somber look come over him, "No, that's my uncle," Cormac corrected her.

"Well, your family seems to have money. They must do something glamorous."

"Not exactly," Cormac revealed. Hermione had thrown her silent treatment out the window and was now curious in Cormac's family.

"It isn't exactly glamorous in my eyes," Cormac said a little embarrassed.

"Well, how did they make their money?" Hermione questioned.

"Um, actually," Cormac hesitated, "This," he said motioning to the compartment they were traveling in.

"Trains?" Hermione asked. This didn't sound particularly wizardly, or glamorous.

"Yeah. Well, kind of," Cormac changed his mind, "It's actually a long story."

"Well, how long until our stop?" Hermione asked looking at Cormac with a smile. She was trying to coax the tale out of him.

Cormac caught Hermione's smile and he replied with one of his own, "My family is more-or-less responsible for the railway network in Europe."

Those words almost didn't seem possible. There were trains all over Europe. If that was true, Cormac could be one of the richest teens in Europe.

"What do you mean 'more-or-less'?" Hermione asked.

"We are partially responsible," Cormac tried to remain vague.

"Just tell me the whole story," Hermione sighed out.

Cormac started, "Railways were just becoming the main way to transport people and goods. This was a few generations ago," Cormac confirmed, "Steel demand was at an all-time high. People couldn't get iron ore fast enough, and the technology of the day couldn't transform the ore into steel quick enough."

Hermione listened, but couldn't understand how this information tied into Cormac's family's wealth.

"With a little 'help'," Cormac used air quotes around the word, "my family could produce more, high-quality steel than anyone else in Europe."

"How?" Hermione asked. Did they find a way to superheat the steel, or find a new method for mining?

"Magic, Hermione," Cormac said as if it were the plainest answer.

"Oh," Hermione said finally catching on.

"It was a time before electronics, so my family could just twist the financial books, and make adjustments to the inventory. No one could ever audit it in that age. We could enchant the steel to be harder and more durable than anything a Muggle could make in a foundry. And with the iron ore, my family would just duplicate it," Cormac almost spoke to himself, "It's incredible how much money you can make if you don't have to pay to acquire your resources."

Hermione was genuinely impressed.

"So my family sold steel to every nation for a few generations. Eventually, Muggle technology caught up to our process, and people were starting to ask questions about how they could be producing steel so efficiently. The Ministry asked us to close our doors before any investigations could be launched, but that was after my great-great-grandparents had enough money to last forever."

"Wow," was all that Hermione could respond with. She had always been under the impression that Cormac had been wealthy, but never that rich. "How come your family's name isn't in every single history book?"

"To keep suspicions low, my family assumed many different names and created hundreds of smaller shell corporations that all operated under one company. It was all very well thought-out," he finished. "But that's the story," Cormac said looking for Hermione to make a comment on the matter.

"So what do you parents do?" Hermione asked.

"They spend their money," Cormac told her. He seemed to be a little embarrassed by that.

"What do you mean?" His shame in that didn't make sense to her.

"Neither of them work. They just do whatever they want. They spend their unlimited funds and live a life of luxury."

Hermione thought that that sounded like the best way to live. Do whatever you want, whenever you want.

Cormac made a face that appeared to contradict Hermione's point of view, but he never got to speak on his point, because the train was approaching a very small town.

"This is our stop," Cormac said reaching up to the overhead storage of the train and retrieving both their bags.

Cormac and Hermione were the only people to get off at that stop. It was night, but it was hardly dark. The platform that they had been dropped off at was lit, the moon was almost full, and the street was lined with lights.

"This way," Cormac said as he slung both the bags over his shoulders.

A short way away from the train station and on the main road, Cormac stopped. Hermione was confused, but she looked up and saw a sign that she was almost completely sure hadn't been there a minute ago. At first the sign appeared out of nowhere, then the words on the sign appeared in gold paint. It was a language that Hermione couldn't decipher – there were even letters that Hermione wasn't sure were letters. When Hermione looked down from the sign, a door seemed to appear that definitely wasn't in the wall at first glance.

"Ladies first," Cormac said holding the door opened.

A little bell jingled and the two teenagers stepped into a small office. The office and waiting room were quaint. Off the waiting room there were six or seven other doors that branched off the main room. They were labeled. One of them was labeled "Dubrovnik".

The couple was greeted in a language that neither of them understood.

"Hello, there," Cormac made sure to enunciate that he only spoke English.

"Good evening," the man behind the counter said, "How may I help you?"

"We are trying to get to Dubrovnik," Cormac told the man.

A short conversation was held. Cormac exchanged the necessary wizarding money, and the man behind the counter led Cormac and Hermione toward the door that was labeled Dubrovnik.

"Now, this will glow blue," the main said pointing at the old chewed pen sitting on the table, "before it is done glowing, touch it at the same time and you will reach our sister office in Dubrovnik."

"Thank you very much," the pair of them said, before the man left them to their travels.

"Ready?" Cormac asked as the pen had the luminescence of a glow stick.

Hermione yawned and nodded. She wanted the long day to come to an end.

**A/N: Looking forward to posting the next chapter that illustrates the beginning of vacation. Hoping to update this story at least once a week until it comes to an end. Thanks for sticking around and reading!**


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

It felt like Hermione had been dragged inside herself by her belly button. The act of teleporting had jerked her so hard that she was forced to close her eyes. Every time that she traveled by portkey, she was fearful that the force may pop her eyes out of her head. When she opened them, it seemed like she hadn't moved. Maybe the portkey was broken. Next to her, Cormac was taking a few deep breaths. She was glad to see that she wasn't the only one that had had the wind temporarily knocked out of her.

The door opened and an attendant entered. This attendant was different than the one that had just bid them safe travels.

"Welcome to Dubrovnik," the young woman said holding the door opened for Cormac and Hermione to exit out of. The inside of the main waiting room was exactly the same as the one that met them outside of Zagreb. Hermione thought that it must've been some sort of regulation by the Croatian Ministry to have identical portkey locations.

Cormac and Hermione stood in the quaint waiting space for a moment. The young woman thought that the pair of them were expecting for her to say something.

"Do you need me to call you a taxi, or help you with your bags?" She asked with a slight accent.

Hermione didn't know how she was supposed to respond.

"No, we aren't far," Cormac piped up.

Hermione looked at Cormac sideways. 'We aren't far' was a relative phrase. Hermione was certainly beginning to reach her threshold for patience and could feel herself approaching crankiness if she didn't get in bed soon. And on top of that, Cormac still had his leg. How could he expect to walk very far?

"Well, enjoy your evening," the attendant said as she went back behind the counter.

"Ready?" Cormac said slinging both bags up over his shoulders.

Hermione was beginning to feel exhausted. She sighed. She wasn't confident with Cormac's perception of distance.

Cormac held the door open for Hermione and she stepped outside. With one more final word of thanks, Cormac followed his companion.

Hermione had been expecting to step onto a busy street in the center of the city, but just like the sister office in Zagreb that they had departed from, this location was a little more remote than the center of Dubrovnik. Hermione had just a few more moments of restraint left. She was beginning to tire and the travel was draining a lot of her energy.

"Cormac, how are we supposed to get to our hostel in the middle of the city," she paused. "And for that matter, where is the city." Again, she wouldn't consider herself an expert in geography, but she knew that Dubrovnik was aligned along the coast. There was no coast to be seen from where she was standing

"You'll be able to see the city from the other side of this hill," Cormac said coming up behind the girl. He was leading their walk in the direction of the same hill that his words were referring to.

"What about the hostel?" Hermione asked trudging in the same direction. It wouldn't be enough just to be able to 'see' the city.

"You don't honestly think that we will be staying in a hostel," Cormac said peeping behind him. The crest of the hill that they were walking up was roughly thirty meters above their heads.

"Well," Hermione paused. She didn't know how to respond. She was now aware of Cormac's immense wealth, but there didn't appear to be any indicator of something so luxurious in sight. Back at the little outpost where wizards could travel by portkey, there were a few storefronts, but not more than six or seven buildings on either side of the street. And as they willed their legs up the hill, there were beautiful historic buildings - probably family homes that were passed down for generations. Even in the darkness, Hermione could see that the buildings were bone white. They were so white and the moon shone so strongly - they almost glowed. The roofs of these buildings were tiled a deep red. They appeared to be like Spanish tiled roofs, but she thought they must certainly be different. To her, all of this was beautiful in its own way, but not what Hermione had been expecting out of Cormac's family. "Well," she continued after a moment's silence, "Where are we staying?"

Cormac had reached the top of the hill. He had stopped and was waiting for Hermione to join him. He had a wide smile on his face. There was a light that was reflecting off of his face. As she grew closer to the teen, she could smell the sea air. It urged her to push a little further. Once her eyes were level with the hill, inch by inch she could see the beauty of the city in front of her.

"Cormac-" was all that she could say. She couldn't tell if they were artificial lights or lanterns that lit the city up, but there was a romantic glow that reflected off of the beautiful walls of Dubrovnik. Hermione assumed that she had known what the city looked like, but seeing it first hand with its own lively luminescence, Hermione was breathlessly taken away.

"That's how I feel every time," Cormac said once Hermione had taken a space right next to him. Cormac put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him before placing a kiss on her temple. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Well, we aren't there yet," Hermione said looking at the distance to the city. It wasn't too far, but she was certainly not in the mood to walk all the way back down the hill that they had climbed, walk around the bay that stood in their way to the city and into the center of town.

"Well, we are here," Cormac said motioning with a hand a little way down the hill. Tucked away behind some trees and some natural looking walls, Hermione could see a little compound that was in the same structural family of the smaller more modest buildings on the hill.

"No way," Hermione said looking in shock.

Cormac was too embarrassed to say anything. He pursed his lips together and nodded.

Hermione approached the building that she was going to call 'home' for the next week. There were walls that were made of the alabaster-colored stone. The outside perimeter wall was at least as thick as the length of her forearm, and a head taller than Cormac. The main entryway to the compound was through an intimidating iron gate. Hermione looked through the bars of the gate, and she was left feeling unimpressed.

"That's it?" She asked. It sounded bratty, but now that she knew what Cormac's family could afford, she was disappointed. And of course, because she was so tired - that didn't help elevate her mood.

Cormac chuckled, "Just wait." He had his wand out and was walking along the wall. His hands were clearly trying to locate something among the stones.

Hermione just continued looking through the bars. From where she was, the pathway to the house looked quaint. There were bushes with pink flowers that lined the aisle that the pathway created, but the house looked like it was only one room. It was possible that the length of the house was much longer than it was letting on, but from her vantage point, it didn't seem likely.

"Aha," Cormac called out to the night. Apparently, he had found what he was looking for. Cormac spun his wand around his hand several times and muttered something to himself. Hermione was watching. Then the boy put his arm into the wall. The solid object of his hand wasn't slowed down one bit by the wall which seemed to turn more liquid than solid. He was almost up to his shoulder in the wall. He was really reaching blindly, "One second."

Hermione had never seen something like this before.

"Here it is," he said, and something clicked loudly.

The gate that Hermione was holding onto swung open. Cormac retracted his hands from the wall and circled around to where the other lovely Gryffindor was standing.

Hermione followed Cormac passed the gate and looked around. She was thoroughly underwhelmed. She craned her neck around to try to see something fabulous. Cormac left her side to walk along the wall. He reached the other side of the wall and pulled a lever. The small object was exactly where Cormac had just reached through the wall. The gate swung shut.

"No key?" Hermione asked.

"No, it's odd, but that is how Croatia does home security for wizards. Let me show you inside," Cormac said motioning toward the house.

Hermione didn't see the point. Now she could see that the building wasn't very long at all. She had built up this home to be something that it couldn't be. Hermione's feet followed the path in a direction that she hadn't seen at first glance. Behind a hedge that was out of sight of the gate, Cormac assisted Hermione down some steps. Hermione had to watch every step that she took, because they were steep and small steps. One wrong move could be catastrophic. Once she was at the last landing, she was no longer disappointed in the appearance of the compound.

Cormac saw the look of shocked surprise on her face. He stepped to the side so that Hermione could take it all in. The house appeared to be three floors. The third floor was technically an attic bedroom, but that was all that could be seen from behind the gate - to maintain appearances for Muggles. The rest of the homestead was everything that Hermione had expected Cormac's family's vacation home to be. It was larger than her family's actual house.

The outside that they were standing on was a private garden that faced the sea. There was a set of stairs that were so long that Hermione couldn't see most of them, but she could only assume that the steps led down the hill to the beach of the Adriatic Sea. Off to the side of the open patio, half of the downtown could be seen with the bone glow of white and deep red buildings. To the corner of the outdoor space there was an open grill for a barbecue, an outdoor shower, deck chairs, sun umbrellas, dining tables and chairs, and a pool.

"Cormac, this is incredible," Hermione said looking around.

"We're very fortunate," Cormac said. Hermione didn't know if he was referring to the McLaggen clan or him and Hermione as the 'we'.

Hermione smiled in his direction.

"Wait until you see this," Cormac whipped his wand back, "_Lumos Maxima_." A large orb of light shot out of the tip of his wand and hovered above the pool. It was as if a second private moon appeared in the sky.

Now, Hermione could see everything.

"Go ahead. Take a look around," Cormac said giving Hermione a gentle push on her backside.

Before she could take more than one step from Cormac, she stopped.

What Hermione assumed was the Croatian language, was being shouting at them.

Hermione tensed up and stepped back toward Cormac. She reached for the wand in her bag. She withdrew it stealthily. Hermione had expected Cormac to turn on the spot and join her by turning his wand on whoever was on his property, but instead his shoulders slackened.

"Damnit," he said softly.

A man was covering his eyes as he was adjusting to Cormac's ball of light. He was still shouting in Croatian. This stranger had his own wand withdrawn.

"Ante, it's me," Cormac said. He pointed his wand to the bright spot and said, "Nox." The light seemed to dissolve into itself.

The man named Ante had just begun to adjust to the light. Now, he needed another moment for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark again.

"Mr. Cormac? I didn't know that you were coming," the man said in a thick, almost un-understandable accent.

"Yeah, this was a last minute trip," Cormac said approaching the man. Hermione looked at Ante. He appeared to be older than her own father. Cormac shook the man's hand, "Good to see you."

"You as well," Ante said, "And who is this?" His tone was less friendly, more surprised.

"This is Hermione. Hermione Granger." Cormac said introducing his companion to the strange man.

"Ante Tomic," the man said extending a hand toward her. His tone was warmer now.

She was grateful that the man appeared to be ok with her presence, but what was he doing there? Cormac clarified this.

"Ante helps my family maintain the house while we are gone," Cormac explained, "He lives just over there," Cormac pointed in a direction of the other side of his house.

"I thought I heard the gate open. There have been some," Hermione thought she heard the word 'Chevesic' - but she didn't speak the language, "teenagers that have been trying to break onto the property. They see the house from the sea and try to take a closer look."

Cormac caught Hermione up, "That means 'Muggle' in Croatian." Then he turned back to Ante, "And then what were you going to do? Jinx them?"

Ante had a smile come across his mouth, "Not jinx." Ante paused to think of the correct word in English, "But remove them."

Cormac almost rolled his eyes, "It's fine, it's only us."

"Are your parents aware that you are here?" Ante asked.

"No, I can't get ahold of them. I think they are in Egypt," Hermione looked in his direction curiously, "I think they're down there breaking curses in tombs. You know how they like that stuff. They're always up for adventure."

Hermione's facial expression appeared impressed.

"But - I think we are going to head to bed," Cormac said exaggerating a yawn.

"Of course," Ante responded to Cormac. The man had a sly grin on his face.

"It was good to see you, Ante," Cormac said turning on his heels. As he faced the door, he placed a hand on Hermione's back and brought her with him.

"I'm sure I will see you," the man replied, "It was nice meeting you, Ms. Hermione."

"Good night," Hermione said. Her yawn wasn't an exaggeration. She was still quite tired.

Ante returned back up the steps that led off the compound as he sheathed his wand.

Cormac assisted Hermione into the house. After he flipped on a switch that turned the lights on, Hermione's breath was taken away for a second time. The interior was a perfect blend of modern luxury with natural wood and stone appeal. Stainless steel appliances in the open kitchen area was intermingled with the same pure white stone, and natural woods found throughout the region. Hermione had thought that such places could only exist in her imagination – or high-end magazines.

Cormac gave Hermione a very quick tour of the building. She hadn't seen most of the rooms, but was directed with hand gestures. Hermione's understanding was that the main house was 170 square meters, consisting of a ground floor, a second floor and an attic bedroom. Cormac said that the home could fit anywhere from seven to nine people comfortably. There were four designated bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The ground floor consisted of a spacious and luxurious sitting room with an open fireplace, dining room, and the fully equipped kitchen. The sitting room and the kitchen opened into the private garden that was facing the ocean. On the second floor there were three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The top floor was just the attic bedroom.

"Our room is in here," Cormac said holding the door opened for Hermione.

_Our room_, Hermione thought. She felt her cheeks pinken at the sound of that. Hermione stepped into the room. It certainly wasn't the master bedroom, but it would do. The room was simpler than her cabin at camp. While her Otter's cabin had a dresser, all this room had was a queen sized bed, two night stands and one small armoire. The tiny piece of furniture only had two drawers to hold everything.

Hermione wanted to put her things away. So that meant she wanted to take everything out of her bag and place them in the drawers. That would make this place feel a little more like home. Hermione opened the drawers and saw that they were filled with clothes for a teenage boy. That explained why Cormac didn't bother packing. He already had plenty of clothes to last him a week.

"Do you need another dresser?" Cormac questioned her when he saw that she was looking for a place to store the things that she brought.

"No, that's ok," Hermione felt embarrassed. For the first time, she noticed how empty the house was that they were in. She felt the very tips of her cheeks brighten.

Cormac could sense that something was different about Hermione. He smiled to himself. He had been smitten by Hermione early in his life. Like only true young love could, Cormac smiled at her. She saw this smile and it was the most genuine smile he had ever given her. Hermione had to shy away, but it was after she was able to take his charm in. Before he was able to force her to break eye contact, Hermione caught the finest nuances of Cormac's smile. Everything that told Hermione that his smile was meant from the warmth of his heart.

Cormac looked at Hermione as she was forced to pull her gaze away from his alluring grin. He continued to smile at her. He was in love. He had told girls before that he was in love with them, and he had thought that he was in love before, but nothing was like this. Here he was after five weeks of working with Hermione. He had grown close with her, he had shared intimate moments with her that he would never forget and he had almost become dependent on her for that summer's incredible memories. Cormac wasn't a bright student at Hogwarts. He wasn't sure of many things, but he was certain that he was in love with Hermione Granger.

He closed the distance to the girl and wrapped her in his arms. He pulled her close to him and squeezed her delicately. "I'm going to lock the house. You get in your night clothes. I've put you through a long day."

"Be back soon," Hermione instructed him. She locked eyes with Cormac before she reached out and kissed him quickly.

"I'll be back in two shakes," Cormac said as he slinked out of the room after releasing Hermione.

Hermione approached her bag and pushed it into an empty corner of the room. She undid the zipper and shuffled through what she had packed and retrieved some of the same pajamas that she had at camp. She dug a little deeper and found her toiletry bag. Hermione made her way to the bathroom that was attached to their bedroom and closed the door. Hermione went through her usual ritual before bed after she changed into her pajamas. Once that was all taken care of, Hermione made her way back to the bedroom.

A hallway light flashed on and it was made plain to Hermione that Cormac was back on the second floor after locking them in securely.

"So I locked all the doors and windows. I turned off all the lights downstairs and we should be ready for bed," Cormac's words sounded strained. The sound of exertion became clear because, the footsteps that Cormac was taking weren't normal steps.

"That's good and fine, but what are you doing?" Hermione asked. She tossed her clothes from the day in the same corner as her suitcase as she headed to the hallway to see what Cormac was doing.

When she peeked into where Cormac was, it made sense why his voice sounded strained. He was carrying a second dresser - presumably from a different room on the second floor.

"I thought you could use this," he said when he saw Hermione looking at him confused.

"Cormac, I don't need another armoire," Hermione said wanting to laugh at him.

"Are you sure? It's already halfway to our room," there was the phrase 'our room' again.

"Put it down," Hermione said reaching a hand toward Cormac.

Even though he was putting the piece of furniture right in front of the stairs, he did as he was told because something about Hermione's voice told him it was a good idea to do as he was told. Hermione took Cormac's hand once the dresser was firmly on the ground. She began leading him toward the bedroom.

"I thought you were tired," Cormac said skeptically as they entered the bedroom.

Hermione turned around on the spot. She placed her hands on Cormac's chest as he continued to walk toward her. He put his hands on her waist, "Suddenly. I'm not so tired," she told him. At that moment, Hermione knew that she wasn't quite ready for sleep.

Cormac didn't need anything other than those words to give him a second burst of energy too. Cormac gripped firmly onto the fabric of Hermione's shirt. He had two fistfuls of cloth and brought his lips down to hers. Hermione copied Cormac as she pulled onto the layer of clothing under her fingers.

"We may as well get a little use out of the empty house," Cormac suggested softly to Hermione. He brought his lips down and kissed her on her perfect nose.

Hermione didn't have a response to his very forward comment, but she smiled at his kiss. She was still a little lightheaded from all the travel of the day, but she knew it was inevitable that this was where the night was going to end up.

Hermione rested her hands under his shirt, on his warm bare back and felt his smooth skin. Cormac had moved his lips from her nose to her lips and was delicately, but a little hastily connecting with hers.

Hermione hadn't notice that the teenager had maneuvered her all the way to the bed. Hermione fell down onto the bed as her hair cascaded onto the mattress. She landed on the bed as lightly as a first snowfall. Cormac dropped down onto his left forearm and with his right hand he cupped Hermione's face. As he twisted his lips on hers, their noses brushed together.

Hermione let out a shy giggle. Cormac stopped kissing her and looked into her face with a smile that appeared larger than life.

"Do that again," Cormac told her.

Hermione stopped and had to ask, "Do what?" She wondered if she brushed against his back in a way that felt nice. She tried to recreate the pattern she drew on his body, but he stopped her.

"Do that laugh again," he instructed her.

"Why?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"It was cute," he told her plainly. The corners of his lips crept into his cheeks as he grinned harder.

She smiled back at him and stared into his face. Looking up at him, she realized that his presence was invigorating her core.

She reached up around his neck and tried to pull his lips back on her, "Kiss me."

Cormac was too strong to be moved, "Hold on, I'm looking at you." Cormac was staring into her irises. He was trying to take note of every layer of color. They were like intricate brown spiderwebs surrounding her pupils.

Hermione got the feeling that he was staring into her deepest parts of her soul. Hermione couldn't help but curl her lips while he continued his close inspection.

At the slight movement of her smile, Cormac's concentration on her eyes was broken.

"Come here," Cormac said falling onto his side. As he dropped, he rolled Hermione with him so she was resting on her shoulder too. Cormac rested his head in his palm, and with his other hand he brushed some hair behind her ear.

Hermione smiled at him. He smiled back, and she couldn't be bothered to look away from him.

"I could look at that smile all day," Cormac said adjusting his head so that he could get a better view of her.

Hermione reached up to him and placed her hands on his chest muscles. She gave the skin in her hands a squeeze, "Kiss me."

Cormac reached up with his free hand and cupped her face again. He laid her down on her back. And again, he crawled on top of her. Cormac dropped his weight onto her and brought his lips to hers. This time he wasn't going to play around with her or get distracted by her eyes.

He applied the perfect amount of pressure on her lips and twisted his head with hers. When the moment was right, Cormac would graze their noses together as he continued kissing her. Hermione reached up and began gripping onto what he was wearing. Worried that Hermione was going to stretch or tear what he had on, Cormac knelt up and hurriedly stripped.

Once he was free of his top layers, he brought his hands down to the buttons on his pants. He undid them, and rolled to the side so he could remove them. The way he fell to his back caused Hermione to laugh. He was having a hard time removing his feet from one of the pant legs. Once he was freed, he tossed the pants next to the rest his other clothes on the floor.

Once he was topless and pantsless, they rotated and Hermione climbed on top of Cormac. She still had her outfit from the day on, but Cormac made quick work of that. He bunched Hermione's top up and under her arms, before they broke their kiss so he could lift it over her head. He tossed the garment to the floor and it landed next to her bag in the corner. Hermione understood what was required of her and undid her bottoms in a similar fashion as Cormac had.

Both were left in their underwear. They were gripping onto their exposed flesh. With Hermione still on top kissing Cormac, they both were groaning into each other's lips. Rather than starting off slow, they both jumped right into heated passion. They both reached up to hold the other's face as they tried to show their appreciation toward the other by kissing.

Cormac lowered one of his hands to Hermione's collarbone and he gently traced the skin located against her delicate bone structure. Hermione was forced to take a long breath to appreciate the gentle touches. Hermione tried to duplicate his actions, but the effect was not the same. Cormac's muscles along his collarbone were not as slight as Hermione's. Instead, she moved her hands to his defined shoulders, before she worked her hand to the skin hugging his ribs.

Hermione's touches were beginning to force Cormac to lose his self-control. From below Hermione's slender frame, Cormac reached behind her back and unclasped Hermione's bra. Hermione didn't roll her eyes or try to stop him. On the contrary, she shifted her body so that her bra fell off her left shoulder then her right before it landed on Cormac's bare chest.

Before going back to kissing him, Hermione slapped the undergarment to the floor. As she brought her weight down on top of Cormac, he held the back of her head while she kissed him, and dropped his other hand to the skin where the back of her legs and bottom met. He held her there and reveled in her toned little backside.

Cormac smiled against her lips. Normally, Hermione would've thought she did something wrong, but somehow she knew why he was smiling, like she had a better understanding of him, or a closer connection with him. While she was kissing him, the back of her mind thought about the possible connection she was having with him. She felt special and loved around him. He may not have told her that he loved her, but that didn't mean that she couldn't feel loved.

Hermione didn't know what happened, but when her thoughts brought her back to the bedroom, she and Cormac were both completely naked. She tried to reason what had happened, but she was halted in her thinking when Cormac placed his lips near her ear.

"Let's try something," Cormac whispered to her.

Hermione lifted off of him. That action told him that she was willing.

Cormac sat up against the headboard and took Hermione by the hand and led her into his lap. With his other hand, he moved it to her core between her legs. The way he moved his hands was different than how he normally would. Rather than try to bring Hermione to an orgasm with his fingers, it seemed he was moving slower and deliberately. That didn't mean it didn't feel good for her. It was just different.

Without noticing it, Hermione's entrance was beginning to get slicker and slicker. She longed for something a little more. She started to rock on his hand, but was forced to stop when he withdrew his hand.

Hermione gasped in disapproval, but didn't say anything. Cormac squeezed Hermione's hand as he pulled her down onto his length. Her entrance was willing to take him. She was wet enough and Cormac's fingers had loosened her to her advantage.

With Cormac's back still against the headboard and Hermione straddling him, he held both her hands as they romantically moved to an internal rhythm.

Rather than the usual fury, and goal Cormac had, he moved slowly and passionately with Hermione. For Hermione, that was better than any experience with Cormac she had had up to that point. Hermione leveraged her ability to move by her knees. She went up and down at her own speed and at her own depth. She contorted her body so that he dived deep into her at all the right spots. Cormac still held Hermione's hands and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. "Oh, Hermione", "That feels so good", "Baby" all were things Cormac had said before, but she stopped when he started to say something she'd never heard from him.

"Don't stop." He said bucking his hips toward her to force her to move a little faster.

She continued rocking on him, but brought her lips down to his. Hermione and Cormac kissed and shifted against the headboard for what felt like a wonderful eternity. Hermione's breaths started getting sharper and she was forcing Cormac deeper into her. Cormac knew what was going to happen soon. She groaned against his lips and squeezed his hands as she climaxed. When she came down from her high, she was feeling very giggly.

Cormac locked his eyes on her and smiled at the red-faced giggling young lady in front of him. He helped lift her body off of him. He pulled himself all the way out of her, and even though he still had his deepest primal urges burning inside of him, he couldn't help but squeeze her tight in his arms.

Hermione returned the gesture and allowed him to hold her. Cormac's nose was resting on the top of her head and he was enjoying the scent that her hair was giving off. He closed his eyes as he breathed her in.

She could sense that he was inhaling her aroma. She enjoyed the feeling, but wanted to bring an even better feeling to Cormac. She wanted to reciprocate the same euphoria that he was able to bring her. Truthfully, it was a combination of her desire of returning the favor, the excitement of vacation and the affection she felt for the other teenager.

Hermione turned her head up toward his. She wasn't able to have her lips meet his, but she could kiss the skin below his chin. Her lips pressed against the fleshy area between his jaw and neck. She could feel his skin tighten as he smiled into her delicate kisses.

Edged on by the smile of Cormac, Hermione whispered to him, "What do you want to do?" As she finished her sentence she began caressing, Cormac's chest.

No longer feeling sentimental, Cormac felt his carnal cravings climbing, "Turn around."

Hermione kissed under his chin once more, and did as she was told. She turned around and laid on her stomach on the bed. Cormac crawled on his knees to where she rested. Feeling his impulses of lust rising, he placed his hands on her hip bones. He elevated them slightly off the bed and Hermione gasped at his rough handling.

"Gentle," Hermione said looking over her shoulder back to him.

Cormac didn't give heed to her request. His thrust back into her was deep and purposeful.

Still looking back, Hermione's mouth gaped open as she suppressed a scream of discomfort. She didn't know why she had to hold back the scream, because the house was empty, but she realized it was out of habit more than anything.

Cormac noticed the look of discomfort on her face, so he gave her a moment to get used to this position. However, he only gave her a moment. Cormac continued to drive downward into her once he reasoned she had enough time.

Still uncomfortable with the feeling, Hermione was forced to bury her face in the covers of the bed. Realizing that she was hiding her x-rated actions from no one, she didn't hesitate to make their love making a little louder. She didn't shout so that her voice echoed off of the walls in the house, but she was able to let her frustrated pains of Cormac's penetration audible.

With each deep thrust Cormac took, the pair of them sighed out. Cormac's noises were deep moans mixed in with a sucking in of breath. Hermione's whines were sounds of strain on her insides. As Cormac was focusing on pushing deeper and faster into her, Hermione was hoping that he wouldn't reach any further.

Cormac continued pounding into her and the sound of their skin meeting was quickening. The throbbing inside Hermione was building. With each thrust, one of her hands was reaching back to brace against his thighs. Cormac was biting onto his lips as he continued to plow into her.

Hermione was saved by a miscalculated thrust of Cormac's. Just as he was trying to push deeper and deeper into her intimate opening, he was also trying to pull out to just the pinnacle before thrusting back into her again. By an overestimated pull out, he unsheathed himself from her. Hermione's eyes lifted and her eyelids fluttered at the break.

Cormac tried to immediately reenter himself, but Hermione closed her body to him. Cormac was unaware and just tried to push himself harder into her opening, but Hermione remained closed off to him.

With her hand on his thighs, Hermione pushed their bodies apart by inches. Once she had created the space, she threw her legs over to the side and fell to her back. She parted her legs on either side of his body and Cormac knew what to do.

Cormac brought his bodyweight on top of her and without the use of his hands, was able to place his manhood back inside Hermione. She was able to enjoy herself much more from her back. She placed her hands on Cormac's strong shoulders. Cormac was just as human as any other man, and had his eyes trailing up and down Hermione's undulating body as he proceeded to pleasure himself and her.

He started looking down to the spot where their bodies met. He saw as their hips collided together, and then began to move his eyes upwards. He trailed to her smooth stomach and marveled at how it lifted and came down with each of her breaths. He peeked at her breasts only for a second, before he gazed down at her mouth. It was left agape by a centimeter. With each of his passionate flittings into her, Hermione allowed a wisp of breath to come out of her mouth.

Her eyes were closed as she tried to leverage off of his shoulders to allow his length to reach the most secret places within her. Cormac's eyes were drawn to Hermione's orbs when she allowed hers to open for the first time in minutes. When she gazed into his eyes, a wide smile came across her for a second before shorter, quicker breaths and movements took over her.

Cormac hadn't realized that he was approaching his peak, but gazing into Hermione's eyes, and seeing the different hues and patterns in her irises for the second time, brought him a special connection that brought him close to his release.

"Oh, I'm going to finish," Cormac confessed to her in a desperate breath. Cormac was going to pull out, just like he always had.

"No, I'm so close," Hermione said moving in a more desperate way. She was wishing that Cormac would be able to hold out, so that she could cum for a second time. Her thought was ambitious.

"Hermione…" Cormac begged.

"So close," she said pulling him into her.

Cormac couldn't utter another word, because he was reaching his climax. He grabbed onto Hermione's hips and began thrusting into her to ride out every last second of his pleasure.

Moments after Cormac began to release into her, Hermione announce to him that she was also orgasming. She couldn't tell if it was Cormac's still hard member or the intimate sensation of him filling her with his seed that brought her over, but Hermione's lower back arched involuntarily four or five times before she was done too.

Cormac retracted out of her. His lower self was already softening. He placed his head next to Hermione's and let out a loud sigh.

"Wow," was all he could say.

"Me too," Hermione said turning her head to look at him.

With the greatest amount of effort, Cormac reached out with his lips and kissed Hermione.

"We should probably get into the shower," Cormac thought out loud as he rolled onto his back. The idea of getting out of the bed sounded horrible.

Hermione made a sound that told Cormac that she agreed with him.

Cormac rolled off the bed first and reached out to help Hermione to her feet after him.

With her head spinning, Hermione followed him to the bathroom.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

The trip that the two Gryffindors took had many highs, and only one low. Hermione would remember the highs of that vacation for as long as she lived. It seemed like Croatia was a destination out of a dream. The first day that they were there the two counselors woke late. The sun was well into the sky and it was sparkling off the Adriatic Sea.

Due to the positioning on the cliff of Cormac's room, the light was just beginning to peek through the windows of their bedroom. Hermione moved to shield her eyes. She made a sound of detest. Cormac was meant to know that she wanted him to turn the sun back down behind the horizon. As she groaned at the incoming light, she rolled to the side where she assumed that Cormac would be lying next to her. Her arm fell to nothing but air and the mattress. Startled, she popped her eyes opened.

"Cormac?" Hermione questioned. She didn't want to be left alone in this strange place. She snapped her head around the room, and everything looked as it should except for one stray white flower. It was resting on the pillow where Cormac's head had laid all night.

Hermione grabbed the small token that Cormac had left for her. She didn't recognize the flower, but it smelled enchanting. Without changing out of the clothes that she had been sleeping in, Hermione sprang out of bed and went to search the house for her companion.

Slowly, Hermione ventured out to the landing on the second floor. There was no sign of the other teenager. She looked up the stairs that led to the third floor, but why would Cormac be up there? Hermione then proceeded to take herself to the first floor. Her nose alerted her that Cormac was down there before anything else.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Cormac said. It was a sight that Hermione would've never imagined.

In front of Hermione was Cormac. He was missing a shirt and wearing a pair of athletic shorts. That was not new to her. That was actually a Camp Craig staple. What made this view seem like something out of an alternate universe was that the only other thing that Cormac was wearing was an apron.

"What on earth is that?" Hermione let out a snigger.

"What? This?" Cormac said motioning to the smock that he was wearing. He did so in an exaggerated and hilarious manner.

Hermione laughed harder.

"Every great chef wears an apron," Cormac explained. Hermione peeked over the other Gryffindor's shoulder and saw that some of the burners were on and there was food being cooked.

"Every great chef?" Hermione questioned, "So how did you get one?" she pointed at one of the pans on the burner and something was definitely burnt.

"Shit!" Cormac said running over to his station. He immediately removed the contents from the heat. He took a wooden utensil and tried to scrape the burnt pieces off the bottom of the pan.

Hermione came up behind Cormac slowly. The last thing she wanted was to startle him and receive a hot piece of cookware to her face.

"Is there any coffee?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes," Cormac said pointing over his shoulder to the dining table just behind them, "And I didn't make it, so you can feel safe in drinking it."

Hermione chuckled. She kissed his cheek before she turned for the coffee in the disposable cup on the table, "So what are you making? Burnt scrambled eggs?"

"It was supposed to be the start to a quiche," Cormac turned red.

"Aww, a quiche?" Hermione replied.

"Yeah," Cormac said lifting the contents of the pan to his nose. It was bitterly burnt.

Hermione noticed the look he gave his own cooking and tried to hold back a laugh, "It was a nice thought."

"I swear, I would burn water if it were possible," Cormac said giving up on his endeavor to cook eggs. He brought them to the rubbish bin and tossed out all that he could. He would be forced to scrub at the burnt bits with the rough side of a sponge - or use some serious magic.

"It's alright, I can get by with just the coffee for now," Hermione replied bringing the lid of the cup to her lips. The coffee was surprisingly good. It was so good that Hermione took the lid off to inspect what made the beverage so delicious.

"The good news though," Cormac continued, returning back to the stove, "is that if I can cook one thing, it's bacon." Cormac flipped a couple of pieces of flawlessly cooked bacon in another skillet.

"Where did this come from?" Hermione asked. She couldn't get over how delicious the coffee was.

Cormac looked over his shoulder just as he avoided the splatter of an errant explosion of bacon grease. "Ante brought over a whole delivery of groceries. He thought we could use some of the basics - at least for the morning. He stopped by with eggs, bacon, the coffee and the treats in those bags - I don't know what they're called, but they're cheese filled pastries."

The idea of a cheese filled pastry excited Hermione. Not that Cormac's efforts to produce breakfast wasn't ideal, it's just that breakfast from outside these walls seemed safer. She searched around, but couldn't see them easily. "Where?" She asked again.

"Right behind the flowers," Cormac pointed. He moved to pull the bacon out of the pan. "Ante also brought the flowers. He thought you might like them."

Hermione shifted the large bouquet in a vase to the side, and there were two little brown bags that were obviously from a local pastry shop. Hermione tore off a corner of her breakfast goodie and popped it into her mouth. It was salty and sugary, savory and sweet. She couldn't be happier with Ante at that moment.

Pleased with her current situation, Hermione happily surveyed her surroundings while she snacked on her little delicacy. Just as Cormac was returning from the cooker, Hermione noticed that there was broken stem among the arrangement. "What happened here?" She said fishing out the useless piece of green.

Cormac laid the still hot bacon on the table, "That made up this." He motioned to the flower that had been resting on Cormac's pillow ten minutes ago. Cormac removed his apron and joined Hermione at the table. He alternated between eating bacon and his pastry while drinking his coffee.

When all the bacon was gone and Hermione had finished the other half of Cormac's pastry since she was so ravenous, he spoke, "Alright, let's head upstairs and get dressed."

"Dressed?" Hermione questioned after she finished off her coffee.

"We're on vacation, Granger," he smiled at her, "I'm going to treat you to everything that Dubrovnik has to offer."

Hermione beamed back at Cormac.

When they both returned to the first floor, the two were fitted in their best outfits for a beach day. All that Cormac had told Hermione was to wear something that she wouldn't mind getting wet. To adhere to Cormac's directions, Hermione put on her favorite bathing suit and covered herself with a light dress. Cormac mimicked Hermione by wearing a bathing suit and finished the look off with a designer shirt that still had the tags on it.

"In that closet, there is a bag for day trips," Cormac said pointing in the direction that he wanted Hermione to head to.

Sure enough, on the floor of the closet there was a beach bag that was filled with towels, sunscreen and other essentials for a day in the sun. Hermione brought the object that Cormac had sent her to toward the refrigerator. Cormac was shoulder deep in the icebox. He withdrew a half a dozen water bottles and tossed them among the oversized towels.

"I'll grab that," Cormac said picking up the bag by the straps. With that, the two of them headed out the door that led to the entrance by the pool.

Hermione assumed that they would walk out to the main road and be picked up by a car. She had no way to know what was expected of her, but it was her gut feeling.

"Where are you going?" Cormac questioned her.

"I don't know," she admitted. She was halfway to the staircase that led up to the gate that the two Gryffindors entered on the previous night.

"We're going this way," Cormac said heading to the opposite side of the back patio. He was approaching another gate that appeared to lead right off the edge of the cliff that the compound was settled on.

Hermione approached hesitantly, but the closer that she got, the more it made sense. The stairs were simple. Nothing but wood, but they led all the way down to the sea.

"Ladies first," Cormac said as he allowed Hermione to walk through the gate. She passed by the boy who couldn't help but reach out and pat her on the backside.

She smiled, but didn't let him know that she did so. She just continued to look down at the beauty of the glistening Adriatic Sea as she allowed her feet to lead her to the bottom of the staircase. Cormac pulled the back gate behind himself and followed Hermione toward the sea.

"This used to be my favorite place to visit when I was younger," Cormac told Hermione as they began their long descent.

Hermione didn't respond. She just kept her gaze on the next step. The stairs were so steep that it could prove easy to misplace one's footing which would end in a drastic tumble.

"One year, I got my hands on a Muggle bicycle - that's this thing…" Cormac started to explain.

"Cormac, I'm from the Muggle world. I know what a bicycle is," Hermione reminded him as she slowly continued down the stairs.

"Right, well one year, I tried to ride it all the way down these stairs," Cormac told her.

"And then what happened?" Hermione was amazed that he was still alive, but her tone didn't bring that on - she was still trying to focus on walking without taking a spill.

He laughed once, "Well I broke almost every bone in my body." Hermione didn't see this, but Cormac was smiling as he remembered the memory, "I fell off about here. And continued all the way down. It's pretty impressive if you think about it." He turned his neck to see how far the pair had already come down, "We're more than halfway down."

"I know," Hermione said beginning to feel short of breath. She considered herself in good shape; the only reason she was tiring was because there were so many steps.

"Anyway, my mother patched me up in a second," Cormac said finishing up his story.

"I hope you aren't expecting me to try something similar to that," Hermione sighed out. She could see the end of the steps. She was so close to the beach that combined into the sea.

"I don't think so," Cormac said behind Hermione. She just reached the sand and could really look out to the water for the first time.

"What's this?" Hermione questioned looking in front of her.

"This, my sweet Hermione," Cormac was finally standing flatly next to her with the sand under his feet, "Is how we are going to spend our day."

Hermione didn't know the first thing about boats, but even from where she was standing she was impressed. Bobbing at least twenty yards from shore was a beautiful luxurious boat.

"It's my father's favorite of all of his 'toys,'" Cormac told Hermione.

"I can only imagine," Hermione said moving closer to the water's edge to try to see as much of the boat as she could. She looked around the secluded piece of land that they were standing on and she was trying to figure out what the next move was. "How do we get there?"

Cormac smiled wryly, "Are you a witch or not?" In that moment, Cormac came up behind Hermione and wrapped her tightly around her waist, "Ready?"

She nodded and the two of them transported right to the backside of the boat.

"Mr. Cormac. Ms. Hermione, welcome on board," a voice greeted them.

"Thank you, Ante," Cormac said reaching out to the McLaggen's caretaker of their summer home with the bag that he had been carrying. "Let me show you around," Cormac said taking Hermione's hand to assist her while she figured out her sea legs.

Cormac gave Hermione the tour of the boat while Ante made other preparations on the vessel. The young Gryffindor didn't understand half of what Cormac was referring to, but she understood that the boat was almost fifty feet long and that statistic was meant to be impressive. There were a few levels to the boat. There was effectively a bedroom with a small bathroom in the bottom. On the 'main level' as Hermione called it, there was the control room where Ante was preparing the ship to take off and a small area to lounge outside the front of the cockpit. After Cormac assisted Hermione up a narrow stairwell, she saw where they would be spending most of the rest of the afternoon and evening.

"Almost a full bar, an outdoor kitchen, a refrigerator with snacks, loungers, sofa, secondary controls - everything you could want on a warm summer day," Cormac said explaining the remaining features.

"Cormac, this is incredible," Hermione said looking over every aspect that she could. Cormac's eyes followed her the entire time.

"Mr. Cormac, we are ready to go whenever you are," Ante said coming up the staircase.

"Shall we?" he asked looking at Hermione.

She nodded excitedly.

Ante smiled, "Then please take a seat and we can get under way."

The Croatian man left the bag with towels and water bottles at the top of the stairs. Cormac quickly unfolded a few towels and placed them on top of the seats that they would be sitting on. The sofa made a nice L shape. Cormac sat down with his back against a rest and invited Hermione to sit next to him. She took the seat along the length of the L. She rested her back against the same rest that Cormac was, but she placed her legs up on the cushions.

Underneath them, the engines fired to life. "Hang on," Cormac said pulling Hermione tighter to him. This was just an excuse for him to get a little closer, because the first several minutes were mostly a putter as Ante navigated the shallower waters where the boat had been waiting for the teenagers.

"Normally, the boat is docked on the other side of the city," Cormac said pointing toward the bone white metropolis.

"And how is it that Ante got the boat?" Hermione had to yell as the boat picked up a little more speed.

"When he stopped by to drop off some of our necessities, I suggested that we take the boat out," Cormac was squinting as the wind was brushing against his face drying out his eyes.

The boat cut through the sea as easily as a hot knife through butter. The ride was perfectly still for the two Gryffindors sitting on the highest deck of the boat. Ante followed the coast away from the massive city. The boat sped along at its maximum speed. At no point was Hermione worried that she was going to fall off, because she was certain they weren't going fast enough to fear for her safety. The power of the boat was noticeable, but comfortable.

Cormac briefly looked over in Hermione's direction and caught the smile on her face as she looked all around her. She was taking in the different blues that the sea pulled up, she was staring at the cliffs that the topography of Croatia offered, and she was enjoying the entire experience of this part of Cormac's life that he rarely shared with anyone.

Hermione had just noticed a tall castle's keep made out of the same white stone as the buildings in Dubrovnik. She wanted to bring it to Cormac's attention. When she whipped her head around, she caught him staring and smiling at her.

"What?" she smiled even harder. His smile was so soft and genuine. His eyes told her everything she needed to know.

At that moment there was a ring of a telephone. Cormac sprang up to his feet. He looked back at Hermione briefly, "Nothing." He was still smiling when he approached the telephone receiver that was attached to the small control panel on the upper deck.

Hermione watched as a conversation was had.

"That sounds perfect, Ante." Cormac nodded a few times, "Great. Thank you." He hung the phone back up and returned to his spot next to Hermione. He draped his arm back over her.

"What was that?" Hermione asked. She wasn't meaning to be nosy. She just was curious about the inner workings of all this so that she could understand a little more about luxury boating.

"Ante wanted to know where we should head to," Cormac told her.

"And where is that?" she questioned.

"A secret little lagoon," Cormac told her, "One of my favorite places."

For the remainder of the ride, Hermione anxiously waited to see this secret lagoon. Every two minutes or so, she would ask, "Is this it?"

Each time, Cormac laughed as he shook his head.

Hermione kept snapping her head from the outside of the boat to try to see where they were headed and back to Cormac to try to see some sort of signal that they were close. A smile cracked across his lips as Hermione was peeking in his direction. Hermione brought her attention to the coast, but was disappointed, when she saw nothing more than walls of earth.

"Where is it?" Hermione asked. Just at that moment, Ante killed the engines and the boat coasted along.

As they rounded a corner, there was the most pristine lagoon.

"It looks just like the bay that the mermaids in Peter Pan lived," Hermione said. The land around the entrapped body of water created a perfect horseshoe shape. There was no beach, just rock cliffs as high from the water as Cormac was tall. Up from the rocks were the most lushly green trees. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so the water matched the same beautiful blue.

Cormac stood up as the sound of clanking metal vibrated in the air. The anchor hit the bottom of the sea and the boat was settled in. When Hermione turned her head back toward Cormac he was already taking his shirt off. He was left in just his bathing suit.

"Are we going to go swimming?" Hermione asked unnecessarily.

"Kind of," he held out a hand to help her on to her feet. The two headed down the stairs and were at the stern. They weren't there alone for long. Ante emerged out of a closet that Hermione hadn't noticed before.

"What's all this?" Hermione made a confused look.

Ante was carrying a bunch equipment that Hermione had never used before.

"This is all for our adventure," Cormac told her, "let me help you." He sat off the edge of the boat where his feet and shins dangled into the water. Cormac patted the end of the boat next to him. Hermione knew that she was meant to sit next to him. Hermione took off the white coverup that she was wearing and revealed a bathing suit with a purple top and red bottoms. She sat next to Cormac.

Without going into too much detail, Cormac helped Hermione put on her swimming fins, mask and snorkel. Of course, she wasn't a vain girl, but she was very curious to see how attractive she looked after seeing Cormac sport the same piece of gear. He looked more like an alien than human when he wore it.

"Hold on, I thought you weren't a good swimmer," Hermione reminded him. She didn't know how all of this was going to help her swim. It felt bulky.

"Oh, with all of this? I swim like a fish," Cormac told her. He had his mask pulled up over his hairline so that he could look at Hermione.

She just looked skeptically at him. She had never tried swimming with extensions on her feet.

"Watch," in a flash, Cormac slid off his backside and into the water. His head popped up immediately.

Hermione watched Cormac try to tread water at camp, but this looked almost effortless to him.

"Try it," Cormac urged her, "If anything happens - which it won't - I'll get you."

Hermione agreed that her fear was silly, because Cormac was right there, but when she slid in, she made sure that she was within arm's reach of the boat. But her fear was for naught.

"This is great," she said as she fluttered her kicks.

"Right?" Cormac kicked his feet so he got closer to her, "Ok, so remember mask on, and breathe through your mouth."

"Got it," Hermione said adjusting the mask over her nose and eyes. She put her snorkel in her mouth and tried it out once or twice. She knew that this would take some getting used to, but she was already committed.

A light splash landed next to Cormac, "Mr. Cormac, don't come back unless it is at least half-full."

"You've got it, Ante," Cormac's voice was distorted since his snorkel was already in his mouth.

"What are you going to do while we are gone, Ante?" Hermione asked.

"I have a very good book I've been meaning to read," Ante told her, "Enjoy."

"Come on, Hermione," Cormac said reaching out for Hermione's hand. He had a small sack slung over his shoulder. That had been what Ante had thrown into the water.

The two dropped their heads into the water. With the extra propulsion that their flippers offered, they skimmed over the top of the water with ease. Cormac kept Hermione's hand in his as they maneuvered.

Ante hadn't parked the boat in the lagoon, because the water was too shallow for the boat. Cormac and Hermione were forced to swim a little way until they were in the shelter of the natural harbor. For most of their trip swimming in the water, Hermione was unimpressed because the water was too deep to see anything, but everything changed once they were in the safety of the lagoon.

It was noticeable at once when they were in the lagoon. Rock formations, some coral, and some sea grasses were flourishing in the calmer waters that were closer to the power of the sun. Anemones, urchins and fish were continuing their lives undisturbed by Cormac and Hermione.

"Why aren't they scared of us?" Hermione asked muffled by the snorkel in her mouth.

"They don't see a lot of humans, I guess," Cormac responded.

"How is that possible?" Hermione couldn't imagine how an incredible natural spot like this could go unnoticed by tourists of all shapes and colors.

"This spot is magically unplottable. The only people that can find it are witches and wizards. If a Muggle gets too close, they immediately remember they need something very specific from the store. It's kind of like how Hogwarts works," Cormac explained.

So this really was a secret lagoon. Hermione put her head under the surface again and made to commit the visual to memory. The whole expanse of water was roughly as big as two football pitches in all directions. The depths varied from about four meters at the opening where the lagoon met the sea to about one and a half meters at its shallowest.

"Alright, so what is this bag for?" Hermione said treading water for a second. She got a little sea water in her mask that she wanted to flush out.

"This is for supper," Cormac said.

"No!" Hermione couldn't imagine coming up on a poor unsuspecting fish after they had given her their trust.

"No, it's really easy," Cormac told her.

"I don't care how easy it is," Hermione said to him, "We can just go to the market and get something."

"Just watch," Cormac moved underwater before Hermione could continue her protest. Hermione quickly slapped her mask back on and poked her head underwater.

Cormac was so far underwater that his feet were submerged completely. Hermione watched as Cormac appeared to be swimming right for a school of white and black striped fish. This seemed useless since they were definitely not big enough to eat. As Cormac reached the center of the school, they scattered. Hermione smiled as the fish got away. But that didn't stop Cormac. He only needed a few more feet to reach the bottom, and then he did reach the bottom. She watched as he scanned the bottom of the lagoon, when Hermione thought that he was going to run out of breath, he made a move and picked something up off the bottom of the sea floor. Cormac put his feet on the ground and with his powerful legs, he pushed back toward the surface.

He exhaled and brought in fresh air, "See." He was holding up a pretty rock. Or Hermione thought it was a rock. Cormac splashed the object in the water a little more and some of the sand and mud filtered off the creature. "It's a scallop. They're small, but they're good."

Hermione inspected the creature. It was absolutely fascinating. Cormac tossed the bivalve in his satchel and asked Hermione to join him. The two bobbed in and out of the water like a pair of corks. After an hour, the bag around Cormac's neck was well over halfway filled.

"I think that should do it," Cormac said jingling the bag out of the water. It sounded like a bunch of stones were coming together.

"Now what?" Hermione asked.

"Now," Cormac said inspecting his snorkel briefly, "we take these back to Ante, he will cook them up."

"Are you sure?" Hermione didn't want to question Cormac's faith in the man, but was he going to be able to properly clean these scallops out here on the water?

Cormac scoffed, "Ante is a fisherman, his father was a fisherman, and his father - well, he was a lawyer, but if we bring these to Ante, he will make something delicious - I promise."

The two counselors returned to the boat. Cormac slapped the bag of scallops on the deck and pulled himself out of the water before helping Hermione out.

"How was the hunt?" Ante asked. In his hand, he had a book with a title that Hermione didn't recognize. She assumed that it was in Croatian.

"See for yourself," Cormac said reaching out with the bag.

Ante appeared to weigh the contents, "Very nice. I will see what we have upstairs and work to cook something up. Are you hungry now or -"

"We ate just a little bit ago, so we can wait to have food in a few hours," Cormac responded.

Hermione watched as Ante tried to translate the words correctly in his head. It took him a second, but he understood, "Very good."

"What do you want to do in the meantime?" Cormac asked addressing Hermione.

"We can do anything," Hermione was trying to be a good guest. She didn't want to prove to be difficult.

"Well, why don't you meet me at the front of the boat?" Cormac suggested. He pulled out a towel from a stack that Ante had left for them. He extended the object toward the young lady that he was with.

Hermione graciously accepted it. She dried herself off and headed in the same direction as Cormac who was circling around the large structure in the center of the boat that housed the cabin which laid below deck, the control room and the upper level where Ante was working to prepare their meal.

Cormac opened a door to the control room and Hermione made to move to follow him.

"I'll meet you up front," Cormac said halting her in her steps, "I'll take just one second."

Hermione did as she was instructed and continued to circle to the bow. In front of the glass that protected the control room from the outside, there was a large lounger. It was more of a bed with a cushioned headboard than a sofa. Hermione assumed that this is what Cormac had referred to. She took her towel off and laid it down on the cushions. She then crawled onto her seat and waited for Cormac to join.

The boat was floating at the mercy of the current. It was still anchored in place, but the forces of the tide were aiming the front of the boat toward the open sea. As Hermione laid on the lounger, she was perfectly aligned with the sun. She was worried that her fair skin would get too much exposure if she was exposed for too long.

As she was finishing her worry about the long-term harm of the sun's rays, music came over the boat. Hermione sat up and tried to find the source of the noise. There were speakers all over the boat that Hermione had not noticed at first. Hermione heard the door to the control room open and close. In another moment, Cormac was standing next to where Hermione was lying with a towel of his own.

"Care if I join you?" he was smiling. He had retrieved a pair of sunglasses from control room and was sporting them.

"I'd love it," Hermione said shifting to the side so that Cormac could place his towel next to Hermione's.

"I found these too," he extended another pair of sunglasses to Hermione. She graciously took them to defend herself from the brightness of the sun.

She sat up briefly to put the shades on her face. When she came back down, Cormac had his arm ready to wrap around her shoulders. When she was rested in her place, Cormac pulled her close to him and he deposited a kiss right where her ear and cheek met.

The two spent the first twenty minutes basking in the heat of the Adriatic sun.

"Are you starting to burn?" Cormac asked. He pulled his sunglasses off to make sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Yeah, I may be," Hermione said feeling the red hot on her skin. The boat was all white. The strong rays were refracting off of every surface and were being absorbed by Hermione's reddening skin.

"Here," Cormac sprang into action. Hermione didn't know this, but the foot of the lounger that they were on was a hidden storage space. Cormac buried his arm under there for a moment, but pulled out a beautifully white sheet that was probably a spare to the bedroom cabin below. The fabric was as light as air, but would protect Hermione from the sun.

Hermione waved the sheet in the air to unfold it and she pulled it across her body.

When she had it where she wanted it, she noticed that Cormac had disappeared. She looked around but didn't see him. Her search for the boy was interrupted by a quiet mechanical whirring. Hermione's eyes raised upward and she saw that the lounging bed had a small awning above it. The sun was still directly above them, so the only way for the two counselors to remain unburned by the sun was to cover up from all angles.

Cormac returned, "How's that?"

"Really great," Hermione hoped that her tone sounded as thankful as she actually was.

"Good," Cormac slid back onto his seat. He grabbed a corner of the sheet and hid the lower half of his body from the sun's rays while the rest of him was shaded by the awning that he had let out from the control room.

Hermione nuzzled closer to Cormac. Even though it was still warm on the sea, there was a slight breeze and with the shade of the awning on her slightly burnt skin, she was feeling a little chilled.

Cormac accepted Hermione as she brought her body closer to his. Again, he snaked his arm around her. Hermione readjusted so that she was resting as comfortably as possible. She brought herself as closely to the boy as she could. In response to that, Cormac brought his other hand to rest on Hermione's knee.

"This has been amazing so far. I can't wait to see what else we will get to do," Hermione said as she leaned her head against Cormac's shoulder.

"Well, I have some pretty exciting things in mind," Cormac said beginning to stroke Hermione's skin.

Hermione smiled at his delicate touches, "Like what?"

"There's plenty more for us to do on the water, if you'd like. And there's lots to do in the city. I can show you some of that tomorrow. And there's even some amazing historical sites around the area," Cormac said lifting his hand a little higher, "But we can talk about all that later."

"Yeah?" Hermione felt her face get flushed. But she didn't get the opportunity to say anything because Cormac brought his lips down to Hermione's. Cormac kissed Hermione hungrily. As soon as their lips came in contact, he shifted himself so that he could leverage his lips on hers better.

Hermione would've been fine with a quick peck on the lips, but this was much too aggressive because Ante was on the boat as well. Hermione made a sound of protest for a moment. Cormac propped himself away from Hermione's lips by his own strength.

"What?" he asked a little out of breath.

"What about Ante?" Hermione couldn't help but speak her mind.

"He's upstairs," Cormac reminded her.

"Maybe, but for how long?" she didn't want to be caught doing anything inappropriate with Cormac by this stranger.

"Ante?!" Cormac called to the upper level.

The pair of Gryffindors could hear the shuffling of feet on the upper deck, "Yes, Mr. Cormac? Are you under the awning? I can hear you, but I can't see you."

"Yes," Cormac shouted up, "How much longer until the food is ready?"

"I still have some preparation to do, but you said you wouldn't be hungry until later," Ante sounded taken aback by the question.

"No, that's fine, we just wanted to know how we could plan the rest of our time," Cormac returned, "Thank you."

"Do you want me to bring down something? A snack?" the Croatian suggested.

"No thank you. We are fine by ourselves," Cormac smiled at Hermione.

"Very well."

There was no response from Cormac, because his lips were already back on Hermione's. Cormac pushed his tongue into Hermione's mouth where she reluctantly allowed him to.

"Quick," Hermione sighed at one moment where they both came up for air. Her teenage hormones got the best of her.

Hermione had meant that whatever they were doing was going to need to be done quickly. Cormac understood the request to act quickly. Without hesitation, Cormac brought his hand up the length of Hermione's leg. And he didn't stop it until he reached where he wanted to reach.

Quicker than a snap - which was ironic, because that was the motion that he made - Cormac's fingers found Hermione's softest skin. Cormac kissed Hermione more heatedly as he worked his hand as quickly as he could. To start Cormac dove one of his fingers into Hermione's slick core. That lasted only a few moments, before he pressed in a second.

As Hermione let out a shuddered moan, Cormac pressed his tongue against her lips and raised the stakes of their kiss. As Cormac noticed that Hermione was reaching her pinnacle, he removed his wet fingers from inside her and brought them up to Hermione's sensitive nub. Cormac ran his fingers over her until she let out a suppressed cry. Cormac removed his hand with a wry smile.

Cormac rolled back against the cushions so that he was resting on his bottom. He had a pleased look on his face. Knowing what Cormac was looking for, Hermione rolled to her side a little and kissed the boy. Just as she placed her hand on his groin, the unmistakable sound of steps down a staircase were heard. The two separated immediately.

"Mr. Cormac," Ante's voice carried from around the corner.

"Over here," Cormac called back with an annoyed tone.

"The food is finishing preparing; it'll be about two hours. Is that ok?" Ante questioned.

"We don't really have a choice right?" Cormac leaned toward Hermione, "Yeah that sounds wonderful."

Ante nodded and retired to the control room where he would attempt to finish his book.

"So," Hermione started, "What do you want to do until the food is ready?"

"Well, you know what I _want_ to do," Cormac raised his eyebrows in Hermione's direction.

She looked at him sternly, "Not-"

"I know; Ante is right behind us. But you owe me one back," Cormac told her.

She rolled her eyes, "Anyways, what do we want to do?"

"I have an idea. Come on," Cormac instructed her.

Cormac and Hermione spent their time snorkeling some more in the lagoon, exploring the shore just by the water's edge which was a combination of rocky terrain and lush greenery. After the pair returned to the boat and had shed their swimming fins, they returned to the upper deck to wait out the remainder of the time until their meal was ready.

When it was time for the meal, Ante first provided a small yet delectable salad. Hermione actually asked for a second helping of her starter to the meal.

"And for the main course," Ante removed something from the refrigerator. He described it as something in Croatian, but Hermione had never been so curious. She didn't want to ask him to repeat herself, so she tried to figure out what it was on her own. It was almost like a form of ceviche made of scallops, but it was delightful for the summer day. There was the fresh-caught scallops, some onions and peppers and the unmistakable pop of citrus.

When the two Gryffindors had their fill of food, Cormac opened a bottle of wine and Ante led them all back home.

Once the teenagers were back on shore, they waved goodbye back to Ante and ascended the stairs. The sun was still up, but they were feeling tired from the previous day of travel, jet lag and spending the whole afternoon in the sun.

"How about I light a fire?" Cormac suggested as he noticed that the sun was going down.

"That sounds really nice," Hermione replied.

"Good, then you can finish paying me back."


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

Following the day on the water, Cormac took Hermione via an expensive looking moped to a very small winery. The vehicle was housed in a shed hidden on the grounds of the McLaggen compound.

The proprietor of the vineyard was an incredibly aged woman. The property was run by the rest of her family. No one onsite spoke a lick of English, but based on facial expressions and nonverbal communication, Hermione could tell that they were all pleased to see Cormac.

Cormac couldn't speak any Croatian, so this was all very interesting for Hermione to watch. There was a lot of nodding and smiling going on. Cormac often rose his voice and said, "Thank you," slowly.

It took a while, but eventually Cormac and Hermione were able to explore the whole vineyard on their own. They inspected the orchards where they stole a kiss or two. They toured the wine cellar, where they shared more than a kiss or two. They weaved by the family when they visited the bottling and labeling of the small farm. And they ended the pleasant afternoon with a small tasting of wines and local cheeses.

That night, Cormac and Hermione took the moped into the city. The ride took longer than Hermione anticipated, because Dubrovnik didn't look far from the house, but the road took them in a half moon direction as opposed to a straight line. The city was abuzz with life. The summer festival was a giant celebration of the arts. Reinventions of old classical composers were heard down every street. Every other street was lineed with small renditions of plays and beyond that, the celebration of the beauty of the city was on display for everyone to enjoy.

Cormac and Hermione sat through a symphony that had to be paid for at a premium, but they decided that they had come all this way for the festival, they may as well take advantage of it. Before they were asked to return from the first intermission, Cormac and Hermione agreed that they had gotten their money's worth and snuck out when no one was looking.

They reserved the rest of their evening enjoying street performers, stopping in for a meal and then finishing the night off with coffee.

"I don't normally drink coffee this late," Hermione confessed as they received their purchases at the coffee shop.

"Don't say that too loudly," Cormac warned her, "Coffee is a way of life to Croatians."

"I swear to God, if you're just doing this to keep me up all night, Cormac-" Hermione started After she smelled how strong the drink was.

"I'm sure we can find something to do," he said smiling before he brought a kiss down to her forehead.

By the time the two vacationers returned to the house, Hermione had accurately guessed that she was still wired from her coffee. And as Cormac had predicted, he found a way to preoccupy their time until Hermione felt the need to fall asleep.

Following their night in Dubrovnik, the couple returned to the city early in the morning. There was a market that needed to be seen - experienced, was the word that Cormac used. After the trip to the city, Hermione was certain that this was going to be an experience. Fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, wares, fish and everything in between was being sold. Hermione wanted to stop and look at everything, but for fear of being trampled she had to move with the flow of the rest of the foot traffic.

Cormac had a small shopping list and when he found almost everything that he needed, he and Hermione returned to the house. After their purchases were put away and a quick love session on the couch, Cormac suggested that they open one of the many Croatian cookbooks in the kitchen and try their hand at a traditional Croatian meal.

By the time their supper was prepared, they were less than impressed, but it was probably mostly due to their inability to cook in the traditional Croatian way rather than the recipe itself.

In the mood to cook, following an underwhelming meal, Hermione told Cormac to relax while she whipped up a treat. Cormac sat at the kitchen table and just chatted while Hermione put together a recipe for shortbread cookies with ingredients already in the house. Cormac was much more impressed by this than their poor attempt at a Croatian staple.

Cormac almost ate his weight in sugar, butter and flour. When he couldn't move anymore, he sat in his chair and contemplated undoing the top button on the pants he was wearing.

"Don't be too full," Hermione requested of him, "I have something."

She retreated up to their bedroom and retrieved a bottle of the wine that she had purchased in secret from the winery that they had visited a few days ago.

"I'm going to need to go for a run or something, before I have enough space for wine," Cormac threatened.

"We'll take your time," Hermione told him as she pulled the cork out of the bottle, "I'll just get a head start on you." She smiled evilly at him. Competition was Cormac's Achilles heel.

"A challenge?" Cormac asked. "Well, I happen to have my own bottle right here, Granger," Cormac said retreating to a spare closet on the first floor. Apparently, he had also purchased a bottle of the local wine in secret.

Soon a competition broke out, where both Gryffindors were the winners. Between the two of them, they finished both bottles of wine.

"Uh oh," Cormac said when he leaned forward from the couch that he was sitting on for the nearest wine bottle. He shook the contents, "It's all gone."

"How'd we do that?" Hermione asked reaching for the bottle that was nearer to her – there were only a few drops left.

"Well, I guess we will have to deal with our company rather than wine," Cormac faked a face of disgust.

.

Before they started drinking, Cormac had put a fire in the stone-white fireplace that was adjacent to the couch. The summer nights were warm, but something about the romance of a fire seemed necessary when he made the decision. After the fire was blazing under its own power and it wouldn't require any attention for forty-five minutes, Cormac returned back to the couch. In his hand he had a blanket. As he sat down next to Hermione, he reached down for her ankles and lifted them off the floor and swung them into his lap. Once the two Gryffindors were sitting in the shape that he desired, he slung the blanket over the two of them.

Now that they were on their last half glass of wine each, everything seemed happier. Cormac held the stem of his wineglass in his left hand and his right hand was stroking Hermione's shin idly.

Hermione was holding her glass with both hands. She was unimaginably cozy with the fire, the blanket and Cormac. She wiggled her feet in his lap once to gain his attention.

With the most genuine smile, he turned to look at her.

"This has been incredible," she told him.

"And we still have a few more days," he reminded her.

"Aren't I a lucky girl?" Hermione smiled harder.

"No," Cormac said firmly, "I'm a lucky guy." Instead of running his hand up and down her leg, he squeezed her lightly.

"No, I'm a lucky girl," Hermione said softly. She leaned closer to the small table in front of the couch. She placed her wine glass on the surface and tried to move closer to Cormac.

"No, I'm the lucky one," he said just as delicately. He also reached out to put his glass down.

"No, me," Hermione breathed out.

"Me," Cormac hushed.

Their lips came together. Hermione had crept her way into Cormac's lap. In the slow shuffle from safely depositing wine glass, Hermione had worked her way on top of the teenager. She had her knees thrown on either side of his waist and lowered her weight so that she was resting right on top of his groin.

Hermione slipped her hands behind Cormac's neck while she pulled him in for a deeper kiss. Cormac buried one of his hands under the blanket that still covered their bodies and under her shirt so it rested on her bare back. His other hand cupped the back of Hermione's head while he kissed her with equal force.

The two twisted their lips against the other's before adding their tongues to the dance. It didn't take long after that for the two to be rotating their hips together. The friction between their bodies added to the heat of the fire. In their teenage passion, their bottom layers were stripped. Still under the cover of the blanket, Cormac found himself buried inside of Hermione.

Cormac dug his lips into the crook of Hermione's neck while she slowly rode the handsome teenager. She slowly bounced up and down on Cormac's lap. Each time she brought herself back down, it was the greatest feeling she had ever experienced. And it happened each time that she did it again.

Cormac held Hermione tightly with his powerful arms and allowed her to pick the tempo. Cormac was relishing in the feeling just like Hermione was, but because of the wine he was expecting himself to last much longer than normal. And that was exactly what happened. By the time the two Gryffindors had finished and put their pants back on, the fire required immediate tending to.

After a shower, the two retired to the bedroom where sleep took them over immediately.

Cormac was woken by the softest pair of lips on his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes as he prepared for the sun to blind him. Hermione was leaning on her side smiling down at the boy.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a sleepy smirk.

"I'm looking at you," she responded as if it were obvious.

"Why?" He questioned with a small laugh.

"Because I want to," why did she need a reason?

"It's weird," Cormac said, but then he made his move. He lunged out at Hermione and took her in his arms. They spent the rest of the hour rolling around in the bed. Hermione made the realization that this vacation was the best she had ever had.

The two transitioned to the first floor where they started breakfast. Cormac went back to making bacon, while Hermione took to the task of breakfast hot cakes. By the time they had their fill and the dishes were done, almost half the day was gone.

"What do you have planned for the day?" Hermione asked Cormac as she was wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Something pretty special," Cormac told her cryptically, "Wear something athletic."

When she went upstairs, Hermione did as she was told and found something that she thought was athletic.

The two camp counselors returned to the shed that housed the moped and Cormac led them to the city. Cormac led them to a part that wasn't as vastly decorated as the main part where most of the festival was taking place. As a matter of fact, this part of Dubrovnik appeared to be mostly forgotten.

Cormac parked the vehicle and he and Hermione circled a block once to make sure that no one could see them. There wasn't another living soul to be seen. Cormac stopped at a corner of buildings where Hermione noticed a mark in the brick that looked like some sort of ancient rune in the shape of an eye unlike any eye Hermione had ever seen before.

Cormac twisted his head up and down the street and when no one was in sight, he took Hermione and placed her hands on two specific bricks and told her to push. She felt resistance, but passed through a magical barrier. She was now inside the building. She stepped to the side and waited for Cormac to join her. A moment later, he entered through the magically concealed entryway.

"What is this?" Hermione had the sense that they were trespassing on some ancient Croatian burial ground.

"It'll be very cool," Cormac told her, "I promise." He took the lead and reached back for Hermione's hand. She took it without hesitation, but was hesitant to continue moving forward.

The building that they were inside had no windows and was lit by everlasting blue flames. Hermione had the sense that they were trespassing in an old monastery. At the end of the walkway, there was a dead end. Or Hermione thought it was a dead end, the only option to continue forward was an opening in the floor with a ladder that went down an undeterminable distance.

"Now what?" Hermione asked.

"We go down," Cormac told her. He pointed at the same rune that Hermione had seen outside. This time the rune of the eye was larger than life. "I'll go first."

Cormac approached the ladder and went hand over hand down. It was completely dark where he was climbing. After a few seconds, Hermione lost complete sight of him. After a minute, Cormac called to Hermione that she could start her descent.

A little frightened and unsure of what Cormac had just signed her up for, Hermione swallowed and followed the steps that Cormac had instructed her to. She could barely see the rungs of the ladder that her hands were supposed to grasp onto since it was so dark, but as long as her feet continued to be in contact with the ladder, she wasn't worried that she would fall. Hermione squeaked a little, when she felt a pressure on her hips. After a second of realization, it was obvious that it was Cormac informing her that she had reached the end.

"Nice," he said. "You can let go."

Hermione released the ladder and Cormac brought her down to the firm floor. The second that Hermione's feet were in contact with the ground, a trail of everlasting blue flames ignited. A wave of fear rushed over her. This underground passageway reminded her too much of the catacombs of France, and those tombs had such an eerie reputation.

"Come on, where's that Gryffindor bravery?" Cormac teased her.

"There are different types of bravery other than wanting to go hunting in the crypts of Croatia," Hermione told him.

"This isn't a burial plot," Cormac explained. "It's an underground tunnel that is going to lead us to something, you'll really like."

Hermione looked at Cormac out of the corner of her eye skeptically.

"Have a little faith. And besides, nothing is going to happen to you. I'm here." He held out his hand again.

"Fine, but you have to tell me what it is," she told him.

"It's a surprise," he pleaded.

"Cormac!" She would feel a lot better if she knew where they were heading.

He sighed and gave in. He started to tell her a story about how during an ancient Croatian war - before Croatia was even called Croatia, the magical community feared the loss of their great texts. In the magical community, Croatia had been a very open minded and progressive region. It inspired a lot of open and free thinking in the magical world. Opinions and ideas from all over the known world had congregated in the white walls of Dubrovnik. Fearing that the warring Muggles would erase hundreds of years of works and tomes, Magical scholars created a hidden library. Originally, the Library had been built to protect the works. It was never meant to be a permanent fixture, but the Library had outlasted its intended useful date and had been in operation since it was created.

By the time he finished his story, they had reached a fork in the road. One held the rune that Hermione had noticed throughout the tunnel that they had been walking down.

"What is the story behind this?" She asked pointing at the symbol.

"That is the mark of the Scholars of Dubrovnik," Cormac explained, "They are the ones responsible for maintaining and protecting the Library. We go this way." He led Hermione in the correct direction.

At the last turn, there was a staircase carved out of the earth. It was indicative that they were meant to go up. The two climbed and climbed and climbed. They were doing so much climbing that Hermione asked to stop once. Cormac also required a break. The leg that he had injured at camp was doing much better, but he hadn't been climbing as many stairs as he normally would.

At the top of the steps, Cormac waited behind a door. When Hermione joined him, he turned the doorknob that was also in the shape of the mark of the Scholars. "Welcome to the Library," Cormac said leaning all of his weight against the door.

Hermione looked around and was left speechless. It was like looking at a combination of the library housed in Parliament and the library gifted to Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Hermione hadn't known what she was expecting - maybe men in robes with vows of silence gliding around a dark and dingy room with a Gutenberg press running at full capacity, but she couldn't've be more wrong.

The Library was opened and airy. Sunlight was shining down from many small windows that were around the sides of the building and down from one massive skylight at the top. Hermione couldn't be certain, but she thought she counted eight floors of bookshelves. The building was shaped as a massive square. The outsides along the walls was where the bookshelves were. Off the bookshelves were areas for walking around, and tables and seats. There were railing that protected the patrons from falling to their deaths, but the entire center of the Library was opened – which allowed the sunlight to filter all the way through the core of the building. If someone was standing on the eighth floor, they could look all the way down to the ground floor.

Rather than monks, witches and wizards in the usual robes of the day were bustling around searching for books or putting them away. People were cheerful and smiling at the two teenagers. This was the kind of center of academic learning that Hermione thought only existed in her dreams.

"Do you like it?" Cormac asked coming to stand next to her.

"This is absolutely amazing," Hermione told him.

"I thought you would have that kind of reaction to it," he smiled.

"You don't know what you've just signed yourself up for," Hermione told him. She crossed the floor and headed to the nearest section she could find.

With a smile still on his face, Cormac followed her.

Cormac had to drag Hermione out of the higher levels of the Library after several hours.

"That's the third time that I've heard your stomach growl. We have to go to eat," Cormac pleaded with her.

"Just five more minutes," Hermione said looking at a scroll talking about the principles behind Leemic's Law of anticoagulants.

"Come on, you child," Cormac said helping to roll the scroll closed, "We need to get you some food and we do not have a short trip back."

"Please, I was almost done," Hermione said rising to her feet to attempt to regain control of the object that Cormac was holding above his own head.

"Don't lie," Cormac said, waving his wand so that the scroll magically flew through the center of the building back on its way to where it had been stored for hundreds of years.

Cormac started to lead Hermione out of the Library and the closer that the two got to the exit, the slower Hermione walked. She wanted to relish in every last view that she could. She didn't know when she would ever visit this gem of the magical world again.

"Come on," Cormac was practically carrying her against her will out the door and to the underground staircase.

Hermione didn't stop rambling on about how incredible the visit was. She was blown away by the contents inside the Library. She was amazed by the history of the building. And she was gracious of Cormac thinking to bring her.

"Well, a trip to the Great Croatian Library isn't exciting to a lot of people, but I knew that I couldn't miss my opportunity to bring the biggest bookworm that I know," Cormac said at the bottom of the ladder that was at the end of the long tunnel.

Hermione ascended the ladder while the path they had just traversed still emitted light. When the young Gryffindor had finished her climb, she shouted down to Cormac that he could proceed. The moment that his second foot was off the ground, the lights extinguished themselves. Cormac was by Hermione's side seconds later.

The two headed back to the moped and Cormac started to make his way out of the city. Hermione put on her helmet and sat behind the handsome teenager that was showing her the vacation of a lifetime. Once she had her arms wrapped around Cormac's waist, he twisted the throttle and started maneuvering through the city.

Not long into their ride, Cormac and Hermione were rerouted in a different direction while a delivery truck was unloading its wares. The narrow alleys of the city couldn't fit both vehicles through, so Cormac had to find a different way out of the city. This was not easy, because the city was filled with many one way streets that often veered off in different directions. Cormac had a general idea of where he was heading, but didn't have a set plan.

At one point the two counselors entered a traffic circle where the key word in that phrase was 'traffic'. Cormac had brought the moped to a complete halt while some pedestrians moved around them. In the center of the circle, stood a sculpture of a man pointing off to the direction of the sea.

"Who is that?" Hermione shouted over the din of traffic.

"I believe it's playwriting Bernard Shaw," Cormac said without turning his head.

"How on earth did you know that?" She was amazed. Cormac didn't seem like the type that was full of random trivia like that.

"It's right there on that sign," Cormac said pointing with his finger as he prepared to move with the flow of traffic.

In perfect English, the sign read, "George Bernard Shaw, Playwrite and Admirer of Dubrovnik". The next line held a quote that Hermione assumed was from Mr. Shaw. "If you want to see Heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik."

Hermione couldn't imagine a more accurate depiction of the city. The past few days had honestly felt like heaven on earth. She squeezed Cormac a little tighter as he sped the moped up.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

Cormac hadn't realized how hungry he was, but by the time they got back to his family's sea-side home, he was relieved to be able to eat something. The two whipped up a late lunch and by the time they were done, it was approaching three in the afternoon. It was incredible how easily time slips away when one is on vacation.

Cormac placed the dishes in the sink and twirled his wand to get the plates to start magically cleaning themselves. When he turned around, Hermione was standing right there. He didn't stop walking. He continued right into her. Hermione tried to stifle a laugh as Cormac bumped their bodies together and kept driving his feet. Hermione threw her arms around him while she was forced to walk backwards. Eventually, she was able to bring him to a halt, and her laughing subsided.

Cormac mimicked Hermione and tossed his arms around her petite body. He looked down on her and smiled, "What do you want to do now? You are my guest and I want to show you to a good time."

"We only have one full day left," Hermione told him. It was already late Thursday afternoon. The next day would be their last full day of vacation, then they would be back to Camp Craig for Saturday night.

"So how would you like to spend the rest of today?" Cormac asked.

"We've been so busy running around, I could really go for just sitting by the pool," she offered.

"That sounds great," Cormac said depositing a single kiss on her forehead. When he withdrew his lips, he did the same with his arms. In one motion, he turned Hermione around so that she was facing the staircase and then he patted her on the bottom to get her on her way.

The two teenagers got into their bathing suits and turned down the stairs to enjoy the late afternoon sun. Cormac retrieved towels and sunblock. He led the way outside and picked up two pool loungers and positioned them next to each other so that they would receive the most intense rays of the sun.

Hermione crawled into one and Cormac the other. The two alternated from laying in the strong heat to taking a dip in the provided pool. They easily burned a few hours just relaxing and enjoying the other's company.

"You know what I could go for tonight?" Hermione asked rhetorically. She was laying on her stomach to allow her backside access to the sun.

Cormac was standing in the pool with his arms lifted up on the lip of the water's edge. He raised his eyebrows at Hermione to indicate to her that she should finish her thought.

"Another fire," she suggested.

"I would agree, but we don't have any more wood that is split," Cormac said motioning with his hand in the direction of the wood pile. It couldn't be seen from exactly where they were, but it was only behind the corner.

"I'm sure we can find someone that can do that for us," Hermione said propping herself up on her elbows. Hermione was unaware that the modest cleavage that she had was exposing itself to Cormac at a tantalizing angle. It took Hermione a moment to notice what he was staring at. "Cormac!" Hermione moved her hands so that they obscured his view to her chest.

"I'm sorry," he said shaking his head to try to come back from his daydream, "If you want a fire, I can make that happen." He made it look so easy as he pressed the palms of his hands on the floor and lifted himself up and out of the water. When both his feet were firmly on dry land, he stood to his full height and ran a hand through his hair. It had been a while since Hermione had seen that. Her eyes ran up and down his body. Trails of water were running off his chest and torso. His one arm was flexed as he wiped the water from his face and hair. His bathing suit hung to his body and that temporarily saved no room for Hermione's imagination - even though she didn't need an imagination, she knew what Cormac was hiding under there.

"Hey, my eyes are up here," Cormac said. He was pleased that Hermione was eyeing him like a piece of candy, but he was more happy to be able to call Hermione out for ogling him, when she had just done the same thing to him moments ago.

Hermione turned red while Cormac grinned at her.

"Alright, you have to come with me if I'm going to be doing this backbreaking labor for you," Cormac said heading to his lounger and retrieving his towel. He dried himself as best as he could, while Hermione rose to her feet, put on her cover up and the two of them moved around the corner toward the wood pile.

Adjacent to the walkway that led from the staircase that the teenagers descended their first night in Croatia, there was a little green patch. In the space of grass there was a tree stump with an axe stuck in it. Off to the side, was the wood pile that would be split into more manageable pieces of wood for the fireplace inside or the fire pit on the patio. Usually a task that would be handled magically by most families, the McLaggen men took pride in their ability to manually handle an axe.

There was a pair of chairs that were still on the patio that were close enough to observe the work of whoever was chopping the wood. Some of Cormac's earliest memories were of him and his mother sitting and watching his father split the logs into usable pieces of firewood.

It brought a smile to his face when Hermione took a seat and looked in his direction with a glance of her own. The shirtless teenager walked to the woodpile and silently grabbed one log in each hand. He brought them close to the stump and put them down tallwise. He assembled a small collection before he was ready for the actual labor to begin.

Cormac approached the weapon and grabbed it by the handle. Hermione was impressed as she saw his arm flex with surprising effort to make the tool unstuck. Cormac tossed the sharp side of the instrument over his shoulder and he looked up at her, "Remember, I'm doing this for you."

Hermione smiled at him, "Go ahead and show off how good you are at this. I know you're dying to prove how good you can split a log."

Cormac grinned. How did she know him so well? With one hand he reached down and picked up one of the logs. He placed it on the stump and as he brought his hand back to the handle of the axe, he started his swing. Hermione watched him. Cormac brought his momentum upward and every muscle in his body flexed to swing the steel head to the top of the piece of wood. The tip of the axe drove into the stump as it split through the log with no problem. To finish the move off, Cormac looked at Hermione and winked.

She was impressed, but she didn't want to let him know. She just shrugged her shoulders in response.

Cormac smiled. He returned the axe to his shoulder, bent down and picked up his next victim and repeated the steps as before. He did this again and again and again.

"Not as good as your last one," Hermione pointed out. This time, the split wasn't as even as Cormac's other attempts had been.

He had sweat coming down his forehead. He knew that she was only teasing, but he didn't appreciate her critique. "Do you want to show me how it's done?"

Hermione had her legs twisted up in her seat, but at the challenge, she retracted, "Oh no."

"Come on. Show me some of that Gryffindor courage," Cormac coaxed her while flexing his biceps impressively.

"It seems dangerous," Hermione replied.

"From your impressive resume, Miss Hermione Granger, this is nothing," Cormac flipped the axe in the air. Hermione gasped. He caught the handle inches away from the steel head. He was holding out the tool for her to take.

"Is it safe?" She asked rising to her feet.

"I'll show you how to do it," Cormac told her.

She took it and was amazed at how heavy it was. When Cormac released it, the weight of the object took it toward the ground. She barely kept it from striking the floor.

"Stand here," Cormac pointed and Hermione obeyed. "Spread your legs," Cormac moved her feet.

"Why?" She couldn't help but be curious.

"Because," Cormac took the axe and lifted it in the air, "If you miss," Cormac released it and it began to fall. Hermione stopped it, before it fell too far, "we won't have to take you to the hospital for an axe to the shin."

That made sense to Hermione.

Cormac allowed Hermione the opportunity to swing the axe a few times. He emphasized that she should try to drive the weapon all the way through the piece of wood and try to stick it into the stump. After a few practice tries, Cormac pulled up the next log from his smaller stack and gave Hermione a chance at her own attempt.

With all the muscle that she could muster, Hermione lifted the axe in the air and brought it down. Her strike was a little off-center, but she connected with her target. The wood gave way to the steel inch by inch. The feeling was satisfying, until it was stopped. As hard as Hermione tried and as heavy as the axe head was, Hermione's drive only brought it halfway through her log.

Disappointed, Hermione tried to withdraw the axe from the piece of wood to try again, but as hard as she tried, the material refused to release its grip. She made a frustrated sound as she tried to free her tool for a third time.

"Here," Cormac said, coming behind Hermione slowly. He knew better than to approach someone with an axe too quickly.

"Why couldn't I do it?" Hermione asked releasing her grip so that Cormac could finish what she started, "I'm too weak."

"It's not that you aren't strong enough - you just don't weigh enough," Cormac said with a chuckle. Hermione watched as he lifted the axe back into the air. This seemed like a moot point because the log was still attached to the top of the axe. But Cormac's efforts were not lost when the log came into contact with the stump, the axe continued to drive through it and split it in two.

Hermione returned to her seat and finished watching Cormac split the halves that he made into quarters. It was about twenty minutes of work and all the while Hermione watched on in silence. She appreciated for the first time, such traditional masculine work. As he toiled, each time he swung through a log, sweat fell to the ground. Each time he took an upswing, Hermione watched as his body strained to generate the necessary power for the work. Internally, she felt her body become aroused.

The last log was cut into a quarter and Cormac drove the axe head into the stump. With the back of his hand, he brushed the sweat off his brow. Hermione inspected. It seemed like he was sweating all over. A primal thought popped into her mind. This is a worthy young man. He was strong, he was passionate, he was attractive and he was a provider. These were all more basic reasons to be drawn to Cormac than any other. Hermione would be able to fight these urges, but it would require the greatest resolve. In that moment, she didn't have that required resolve.

Hermione rose to her feet and approached Cormac. In that moment, he was bending down and was trying to pile the logs into his arms so that he could bring them to the firepit. When he noticed that Hermione was reaching out to take him by the hand, Cormac immediately dropped the wood to the floor - it was possible that he dropped several of the logs on his foot, but he didn't notice in anticipation of what was happening.

Hermione led Cormac by the hand toward the entrance of the house. The two entered the door that attached the kitchen to the back patio and once the door was closed, Cormac was left astonished.

Hermione pulled Cormac's lips down to hers. The pheromones that his body was giving off bounced around her brain like a jumping bean. The longer they kissed, the more badly she wanted more.

Cormac was surprised for the slightest moment, but was not upset by what was happening. He gripped Hermione by either side of her head as he kissed her with a matching fervor. They groaned into each other's lips. In a flash, both were devoid of their shirts. Hermione had her hands placed on Cormac's front while Cormac was tangling his fingers in her hair.

Neither knew which happened first, but Hermione drew her nails into Cormac's flesh as he started to pull on her hair. The harder she scraped at Cormac's front, the tougher he made his hold in her locks. The rough way that they were handling each other made their intentions known plainly.

Unceremoniously, Cormac spun Hermione around. She gasped audibly even though she was getting excited by the rough sensation. Cormac maneuvered Hermione to the nearest wall and pressed her against it. The moment that her skin came in contact with the building, Cormac brought his lips down forcibly on the crook of Hermione's neck. With one hand, he applied a steady pressure on Hermione's hair while his other hand began to reach around to Hermione's front. All the while, he pressed his body weight into her keeping her pinned to the wall.

After the playful removal of Hermione's bottom layers, Cormac shimmied out of his own. It didn't take Cormac long before he was entering Hermione while standing with her back to him. The angle that he was hitting was sharp at first, but soon after a moment of adjustment, the act was as natural as riding a bike - a well-toned, handsome, rock hard bike.

The carnal lust that had rushed over the two teenagers didn't last long. It was purely instinctual and desire-driven. They soon realized that even though it was short-lived it was the best sex either of them had ever had.

Cormac slipped back into his clothes and left to finish his job of stacking the firewood he had just split. Hermione joined Cormac outside moments after he was finishing piling up the logs next to the outdoor fireplace. She did not arrive empty handed.

Hermione had brought out a large bowl of berries. It was getting late enough that the summer sun was almost set, but neither of the Gryffindors was hungry for a full meal. They had finished a full lunch not long ago.

Hermione set the bowl of berries down on an outdoor table and revealed a large glass bottle in her other hand.

"A little something to celebrate the last day of vacation," Hermione said putting down the wine bottle on the table.

"I'll go get some glasses," Cormac said returning back to the house. In a flash, he returned with two champagne flutes.

Hermione looked at him inquisitorially.

Cormac returned the same face.

Hermione took a second look at the bottle of wine that she had brought outside, and the labeling was in Croatian, but the word 'champagne' was unmistakably on the bottle.

Cormac undid the foil on the top. He gripped the cork and pulled it. The telltale pop of the topper sounded. Cormac poured a little into each of their glasses. Hermione took a seat in a lounger. She wrapped herself in a spare towel as she looked out over the sea as the sun finished setting while Cormac went about getting a fire started. Cormac stopped for a moment to witness the last moments of the fiery ball as it tucked under the horizon.

"Incendio," Cormac said pulling his wand out and igniting the tinder at the bottom of the firepit.

"No matches?" Hermione asked as Cormac took a seat next to her. The flames that he had conjured were sweeping upward and igniting everything that Cormac had lain in the steel basin of the firepit.

"Sometimes it's fun to play with matches, but this is much easier," Cormac said putting his wand down on the table. Hermione smiled at him.

She reached into the bowl between the two of them and took a small handful of berries. She plopped them one by one in her mouth until she had only one left.

"Toss me one?" Cormac asked her.

She didn't know why she did, but she flicked the berry in his direction. Hermione assumed that Cormac was going to catch it with his hand, but instead he maneuvered his head and the fruit landed right in his mouth.

"Do that again," Hermione said sounding impressed.

"I love this game."

Cormac adjusted how he was sitting in his lounger and faced Hermione better. She took another four berries in her hand and tossed them one after the other at him. Each time, Cormac caught it with no problem.

"Here, you try," Cormac said putting his hand in the bowl.

Hermione moved so that she was facing him better. She opened her mouth in anticipation.

"Keep your eye on it," he instructed her.

Cormac pulled his hand backward then forward, he released his hand and then Hermione didn't know what to do. While she had tossed one berry at a time, Cormac threw a trio at once. Each one collided with her face.

"That was so bad. You didn't catch a single one," Cormac teased her.

"Cormac!" Hermione said reaching out with her arm to smack him.

Cormac shielded himself but laughed.

Once the very short spat was finished, Cormac reached for his untouched champagne flute on the table. He made a move to take a sip, but stopped himself. He turned to look at Hermione who had mimicked him in reaching for her glass.

"Here's to our future," Cormac said holding the glass in her direction.

Hermione heard his words and couldn't help but wonder what to make of that. Their academic future? Their future careers? Or the future of a possible relationship?

"No," she said and that stopped Cormac in his tracks, "here's to the present."

Cormac smiled and tapped his glass delicately to hers.

Hermione was right to want to toast the present, because the future wasn't going to be too kind to these two.

**A/N: Hope everyone's been enjoying AVHS. I have finished this story and will finish posting before the Christmas holiday.**

**I am pleased to announce that I have been working on another story that will be sort of an action/adventure/romance between my two favorite Gryffindors. A brief summary of the work is as follows:**

**The story starts at the Battle of the Seven Potters. Following the Death Eaters' arrival at the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding, Harry, Ron and Hermione never Apparate to Tottenham Court Road. They stay and fight. Dumbledore had given them all the information to start their hunt for the Horcruxes when they were ready – at the time, they were not ready.**

**In response to the Death Eater's takeover of the Ministry and more open attacks, the Order of the Phoenix established the Academy…**

**As of now, the new story is on its 22****nd**** chapter and I think I'll set it up in 2 parts – maybe 3 – but after the holiday, I'll introduce you to my newest work Prince of Darkness.**

**jrb2009**


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

The next morning Cormac and Hermione rose out of bed. They spent half an hour complaining that they didn't want to leave the Croatian sea coast and head back to Camp Craig. The weeklong vacation had been too perfect.

"Maybe they won't need us," Cormac said leaning on his side looking in Hermione's direction.

"You know that's not true. Everyone probably misses you too much," Hermione reminded him.

"Yeah, but I don't care about any of them. I just want to stay here with you," Hermione wondered if that meant that he cared about her.

"Well, we already have our tickets booked," Cormac reminded her.

"What do we need tickets for? Are you a wizard or not?" She teased him.

"I was just traveling like a Muggle to maintain appearances. Why would I want to travel for hours when we could get there instantaneously?"

"Well, traveling with you isn't too bad," Hermione let him know.

Cormac smiled before he rolled over on top of the other Gryffindor. He rested his nose gently on hers and nuzzled it side to side.

Hermione smiled as she looked into Cormac's face. She craned her neck so that she could reach up and peck his lips, but before their morning could be started off with anything more than that one kiss, there was a knock on the door.

Cormac had a confused look on his face. He sat up still sporting that quizzical expression.

"Is that Ante with more coffee? He's so sweet for thinking of us!" Hermione pushed Cormac off of her as she rolled to her side.

Cormac put on a smile. He allowed Hermione to rotate him off of her and allowed her a head start out of the bedroom, but in no time, he was right on her heels as they were running down the stairs together. Both of them stopped at the first floor landing. Ante was outside the glass sliding door that connected the kitchen to the outside, but he was not alone.

There was a short and stocky man that was probably six or seven years older than Cormac. Cormac had never seen this man before. He raised an eyebrow in the two men's direction. Hermione was also frozen on the spot. Cormac pulled her closer to him possessively.

"What's this?" Cormac asked rhetorically. He slowly followed his feet toward the door.

Hermione didn't know the answer to that question, but she had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach.

On the other side of the glass door, the unnamed man waved with a somber smile.

"Do you know this guy?" Cormac turned to look at Hermione.

The red hair and freckles should've given him away immediately. Hermione had met Charlie Weasley only on a few occasions, but it was unmistakably him. She nodded in response to Cormac's question.

"Who is he?" Cormac asked, but Hermione didn't have any time to answer the second question, because they had reached the door.

Cormac undid the lock and slid the door opened.

"Hey, Hermione," Charlie said with an awkward smile. She was still in her pajamas, which was covering less than Charlie had ever seen and Cormac was still completely shirtless.

"Hi," she felt like she was outside her body.

"Hi, I'm Charlie Weasley," the redhead introduced himself to Cormac.

"Cormac," the teenager replied. Next, Cormac looked at Ante with a questioning look.

"Mr. Cormac, I was heading out to start work in the garden when I saw this guy lurking around the premise-"

"I was not lurking," Charlie tried to defend himself.

"So I approached him," Ante continued, "He said he was looking for Ms. Granger. He said it was urgent. When he accurately described her, I let him onto the compound," the McLaggen's caretaker finished.

"So what are you doing here, Charlie?" Hermione asked. She was beginning to think that she would be sick.

"I received an owl from the Order and all I know is that I'm supposed to get you back to Headquarters. I didn't ask. Dumbledore said that Harry was going to arrive before the end of the week, and that you are needed to be there," Charlie explained.

"Wait. What? What is the Order? Dumbledore - like Professor Dumbledore? What's going on?" Cormac had so many questions from that one statement.

"How'd you find me?" Hermione asked ignoring Cormac's protests.

"Ron said he received a letter from you saying that you were in Dubrovnik, and once I had a general idea of where you were, I used the Trace that you have and tracked you." Apparently, the Trace wasn't just to monitor when underage wizards used magic – it was also possible to locate underage wizards when they were out of their home country.

"So I have to go with you? Now?" Hermione was worried of the answer.

"The request came directly from Dumbledore, and I'm not going to question anything that that man says," Charlie told her.

"Right now?" Hermione felt like all the blood had drained from her face.

Charlie didn't say anything. He just nodded his head once.

Hermione's sense of duty kicked in. Without looking at Cormac, she turned on her heels and headed back to the stairs.

Cormac was frozen. He had so many unanswered questions. But one thing that was not unanswered was that he wanted to be with Hermione. Before she was too far, he sprang to action.

"Wait here, Weasley. We'll be down in a minute," he said before he turned to catch up to Hermione who was already on the first step.

The attitude up the stairs was somber. Neither exchanged a single word. It was silent until they reached the top of the stairs. Never one to overthink, Cormac reacted. He placed his lips gently down on Hermione's and she silently begged him to kiss her fuller by wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. She pulled him closer to her.

"I love you," Cormac whispered for the first time.

"How dare you say that?"

That was not the reaction Cormac was planning on receiving.

Hermione was on a fragile, emotional cliff. She was trying to remain composed. But hearing those three words sent her over the edge.

Rage seemed to consume Hermione. Cormac didn't know what he did to receive such a reaction.

"You can't do that!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Can't do what?" Cormac's voice was raising in defense.

"Say stuff like that," it didn't make sense, but it was what came to her mind, "Do you honestly think that this is the right time to say that?"

Cormac's emotional side collapsed into a shell for protection. Was that the kind of reaction he would get for being 'honest'?

Hermione was feeling distraught about having Cormac revealing that kind of information to her at the moment that she was being dragged away from him.

"Better to say something at the wrong time than to never say it at all." Cormac told her.

"Don't you understand how this is making me feel?" Hermione wanted to rip her skin off.

"I'm sorry for being honest," he shouted ironically.

"It's not your honesty that I'm mad about," Hermione almost screamed.

"You're not mad at me. So why are you yelling at me?"

Hermione's heart was breaking. It was no fair that this was happening. She would never know this, but the same exact breaking was happening to Cormac.

In order to put up a wall to protect himself, Cormac stormed into their bedroom. He was done discussing the topic anymore. He removed his emotions from the situation. He hastily threw Hermione's things into her bag. Hermione was on the verge of tears. Cormac extended the bag to her, "Here take it."

The briefest hesitation swept over both of them. Nothing mattered. There was a moment where both of them wanted to apologize. Cormac felt the words rising to his lips, while Hermione wanted to shout that she was sorry. But the words and apologies didn't come. Hermione's sense of duty to the Order - and to Harry and Ron overcame her. The moment for "I'm sorry's" passed.

Hermione was already at the second step before Cormac knew what hit him. "Fine, go."

Hermione stopped dead. She squeezed her fists so that the knuckles were showing bone white.

"I got all I needed out of you, anyways!" Cormac had opened himself up to Hermione at a different level than he had ever shown anyone. This putrid behavior was his only way of coping with his first heartbreak.

"You are," Hermione turned and tried to think of the appropriate word, "VILE! You are a vile creature, Cormac McLaggen!"

"Well," Cormac said unlistening to her words, "I can live with that. Oddly enough, your opinion of me doesn't matter very much." There was a pause. Neither of them moved for a second, "Weasley is probably waiting for you - and I don't mean the one downstairs."

"You're vile," Hermione said shaking her head, looking at Cormac with hate. She had given her heart to a boy for the first time, and here he was stomping on it and showing her the door. It would take years for her to be able to open up to another person like that again. She was outside before she knew it. She didn't even realize that she had the first signs of tears streaming down her face.

Under different circumstances, hearing Cormac confess his feelings to her would send her over the moon with happiness, but somehow with the decision of being dragged away from him decided for her, it made everything seem like a nightmare.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that to anyone," Hermione asked of Charlie before heading up the outdoor steps that led off the McLaggen compound. Charlie didn't say anything. He just nodded and picked up Hermione's bag for her. Once they were a little way from the house, Charlie took Hermione's hand and they Apparated the necessary distance to the Romanian dragon refuge that Charlie called home. From there, he could arrange for Hermione to get back to London easily.

From inside the house, Cormac heard the snap of the two wizards teleporting. A rage swept over him. There wasn't a single object left in the house unbroken. The plates were smashed, mugs were shattered, patio furniture was tossed into the pool, dressers were thrown down the stairs and splintered. The entire home was left in shambles. When there was nothing left for Cormac to take his anger out on, he collapsed. Tears - real human tears - streamed down his face. At seventeen years old, Cormac hadn't cried since he was a child. The sting of a first heartbreak burned sharper in Cormac than the fiery core of the earth. He cried and cried. He sobbed wishing that things could be different.

He cried out in frustration thinking it would help - it didn't. His voice carried hundreds of yards. He smashed his fists on the floor. It hurt. He did it again and again. When he broke the finest bones in his hands, he continued once or twice more before the pain became too much. Broken bones could be fixed, but for now, he would deal with the pain. It almost helped to numb some of the pain of seeing that beautiful young woman - inside and out - walk out that door.

Yes, they would see each other at school - Merlin willing - but things had been said that couldn't be taken back. And the time apart would only set those words more deeply in the two students' minds.

It was only now that Cormac wished that he could run after her. Say he was sorry. Beg her to stay. Plead with her to side with him rather than her oldest friends, before it was too late. One more shout was the last thing that he remembered of that day. His brain was on overload and refused to log any more details.

Cormac made the journey back to Camp Craig alone. Somehow it felt like an eternity compared to the opposite trip. When he got there, he was confronted by Mr. Craig. "Cormac, we're sorry to hear about Hermione's grandfather's passing. If you talk to her - because we understand you two are kind of 'close' - tell her we are sorry and we understand that she won't be able to return this year. But also tell her we hope to see her next summer."

_So that is how this mysterious 'Order' operated_, Cormac thought to himself. "I'll do that. How'd we do in the Camp Cup last session?" From that moment on, Cormac refused to allow himself close to anyone again. Cormac finished his summer with something he was quite familiar with - Bri Craig.

The time with Bri was meaningless, but it was a Band-Aid for the hurt. It was a Band-Aid for a bullet wound. It looked like it helped on the outside, but there was too much damage done on the inside to help him heal.

When he returned to Hogwarts, he didn't bother to look in Hermione Granger's direction - because he assumed that she would do that same thing. He wasn't disappointed. It wasn't until an invitation from Horace Slughorn that they were put in the same room together. Cormac tried to look in Hermione's direction to see if there was any memory of their history left intact, but he was returned with a look of utter repulsion.

_So that was how it was going to be_, he thought.

If she wanted to pretend like they had never met, he could play the same game. From then on, he would change from Hermione's white knight to the anti-hero black knight. From across the table, he gave her a knowing smirk. Hermione flashed around the table to make sure no one caught what he was doing. When she knew the coast was clear, she glared at him with revulsion. That look burned him to his center, but it was easier to do that than dwell on his summer heartbreak.

**A/N: Alright everyone AVHS has come to an end. I apologize to those that really enjoyed it, but I was getting the sense that not many readers were having the same fun with it. I'm sure most of that comes from the long hiatus that I took this summer and I apologize.**

**Now that the apology is out of the way, I really enjoyed writing this story and for those of you that stuck through the 50 Chapters, I hope you enjoyed it as well.**

**For those of you that are big fans of my writing (the longer fics – not the oneshots), I will be posting a new story starting next week. Keep an eye out for the **_**Prince of Darkness**_**.**

**Best and happy holidays,**

**jrb2009**


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